


Road to Heaven

by crimsonsun06



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action, Adventure, Gen, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-14
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-13 22:58:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 41,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5720116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonsun06/pseuds/crimsonsun06
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For generations Team 7 has produced some of the greatest shinobis of their age. Their feats of legend while earning them the love and admiration of their peers also brought with it the hatred of their enemies. It has been said after all, that the curses of the fallen can bring the very angels crashing to the earth. Is this the fate that awaits the new Team 7? Or can they pave a new road?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Usually have shied away from posting my work here preferring ff.net but thought it was time to branch out. The updated version of this story can be found there.

Location: Degarashi Port, Land of Water

Time: 6:14 PM

The two men dragged their helpless prisoner through the streets of the market. The crowd hastily made way for them, not really keen to get in their way. A few of them looked appalled, some looked outraged, some merely indifferent, but most of them were scared and were busy trying to make themselves scarce, lest they incurred the wrath of the enforcers.

The men for their part looked supremely confident in their power and authority. Safe in the knowledge, that their aura of invincibility was maintained and sustained by their acts of suppressing these random acts of dissent.

Their victim was a lad who hadn't probably even seen eighteen summers yet. His crime had been his refusal to pay the mandatory protection money their establishment... for the lack of a better term charged for their well... protection.

Some of them just didn't understand the service they provided. Some of the misguided ones like the one they were dragging with them right now, openly defied them. Hence, the need to make an example. The rebellion no matter how small had to be put out before it was fanned out of control after all.

A new establishment like their own couldn't afford to let these things pass. Even a year ago they were just one of the dozens of gangs trying to control this port town. Eight months ago the place had resembled a war-zone with the streets turning into battlefields. And just when it seemed the gangs would implode within themselves... came Kenshin Homura. That was the name he claimed anyway. He approached their boss for a job as an enforcer.

What happened next would go down in the annals of the town's dark history. The man single-handedly tore through the ranks of the rival gangs. He had cleared the streets within a month and firmly established the dominion of their boss. How he had done it, remained as big a mystery as who he was. Rumours were that he was a ninja. But they couldn't bring themselves to care either way.

Now they controlled the very economy of the port town. But it was new. And like all new things it was fragile. The last few months of relative peace had made the people lapse and careless. They needed to be shown who the boss was.

The boy groaned piteously as he gazed up to his captors, his one eye swollen shut due to the beating he had received.

"You brought it on yourself kid." One of his captors told him. "You just had to play the hero, didn't you? Couldn't have let things be."

"Don't worry though the boss will put you out of your misery." His other captor said with barely suppressed glee in his voice. "After he has had his bit of fun, of course."

The men led him to a nondescript building at the edge of the town. It was a simple two-storey structure. A year ago it was owned by a cloth merchant. During the gang wars it served as the headquarters of one of their fiercest rivals. Now it served as the place where they took out the trash so to speak.

Dragging the boy across the floor they hung him by his arms, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground, his head collapsing forward, showing no signs of life. The room was soon filled with half-a dozen men, the oldest being around forty. The boy had somehow regained enough consciousness to study the scene in front of him, as he helplessly raised his head.

"So this is the dissenter." The oldest of them spoke studying his captive. "He is just a kid!"

The quip wasn't funny at all, but the men with an active interest in keeping their boss in high spirits chuckled heartily.

"Every once in a while, one idiot thinks he can change the world." The boss continued obviously pleased and encouraged by the reaction of his men to his 'witty' observation. "One idiot who believes he can make a difference." He said putting emphasis on the word 'idiot'. "Then you have to kill him just to convince him otherwise."

He shook his head in mock regret as he approached the prisoner. He was expecting some reaction from the boy. Whether begging for leniency or defiance. But his men probably didn't leave him in the condition to do so. A pity. He sort of enjoyed the type.

He gazed into the face of his prisoner and then received the greatest shock of his life. His face was heavily bruised and his eye shut due to the heavy swelling. But the other eye didn't seem to have any signs of resignation or terror he had come to expect. In fact he seemed almost bored as if the man in front of him wasn't even worth his consideration.

It unnerved him a great deal.

"Kill him." He ordered his men, turning around as he walked away from the boy. He couldn't get away fast enough from the boy. He was no coward. But something about the boy turned the very blood in his veins to ice.

"Saito... ." The boy said in a calm and clear voice. It was quiet. Almost a whisper. But in the silence of the room, it sounded like an exploding tag.

The boss turned around, surprised by the clarity in the boy's voice. The boy wasn't looking at him. It seemed he was looking through him. Or to be more accurate beyond him. He turned around with the intent to crack another joke about how the beating his men gave the boy had probably addled his brains. But he froze when he saw the look on the face of his right hand man, Kenshin Homura.

Kenshin Homura was the bravest man he knew. He had seen him walk into an enemy stronghold alone and weaponless burn the place down, killing everyone in it in the process, all without sustaining a single scratch... and yet right now his face was as pale as a ghost's.

What could possibly scare the man whose exploits had earned him the moniker of 'The Terror of the Hidden Sea'... and yet here he was frozen like a mouse in front of a viper.

It was with considerable dread that the boss realized that the source of his fear was their captive. Then he murmured what would be his last coherent words.

"Konoha." With a scream he drew his tanto and in a well executed shunshin which left his comrades baffled plunged the blade into the prisoner's ribs, stopping an inch from penetrating his heart. He just wanted to confirm his suspicions for the sake of posterity.

"Did they send you to capture me?" He asked.

"No." The boy wheezed, his lungs flooding with blood as he brought his lips to the man's ear. "They sent me here to kill you."

The boss stood motionless. Frozen in pure terror. His peripheral vision told him that his men weren't faring any better. A couple of them in fact had lost consciousness. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. One moment he was with his men, joking and laughing about to execute a boy, the next moment the boy had seemingly broken free from his restraints, no signs of injury casually wiping his blade after having removed the head of his most powerful enforcer with a single stroke. Lifting the head from the floor, ignoring the blood which had begun to flood the floor, he proceeded to place the head in a scroll. If he hadn't been so terrified he would have wondered how the hell did the head disappear?

The boy then placed the scroll in the pockets of his trousers and exited the building without so much as a backward glance.

"Mission accomplished." The boy spoke into his com link. "Threat eliminated."

Location: Konoha-Kusa border

Time:- 4 PM

Takeshi cursed under his breath as he dodged another wave of kunai. To say that the enemy had caught them by surprise would have been a gross understatement. He was the part of a four-member patrol unit. It was meant to be a routine patrol. They had no reason to suspect anything. So when one of them was literally torn apart by a wire user, they were caught with their pants down.

It was only due to the quick-thinking and experience of their captain that that was the only casualty so far. After a couple of smoke bombs, a half a dozen hastily applied Kawarimis and another half-an hour on the run (it felt like six hours) the only thing they had succeeded in was get deeper into enemy territory.

Being a trap expert his skills had kept them alive so far. Their enemy had cut off their escape the way they came. Now they were stuck taking the longer way, littered with more ambushes and traps.

He was brought out of his musings by the sight of an explosive tag wrapped around a kunai embedded in a tree five yards in front of them.

"Fire in the hole!" He hollered to warn his comrades. It was too late. He managed to change direction in time. The running momentum of his captain however carried him closer to the tag.

The explosion nearly tore apart his eardrums. After he got over his disorientation, he could hear his female comrade shouting.

"...help me...ut."

He recovered enough to focus his vision to see the dishevelled form of Sakura Haruno. The medic on their team. Her short pink hair resembled a crow's nest, her face sported numerous cuts, a couple of kunai stuck out of her armour but her eyes remained sharp and focused.

"The captain is hurt, we need to move him fast."

Takeshi nodded before taking him by the shoulder, the other taken by the girl. Together they began to build-up a steady pace.

"Its no good." She exclaimed. "He is crashing."

"Do you think we should leave him here?" Takeshi felt like an ass for coming up with that suggestion. But the fact remained if they kept going the way they were they wouldn't survive this.

"No I am going to treat him." She said with a no-nonsense tone.

"What?" He couldn't help himself. "Are you crazy?"

"See those outcropping of rocks?" She ignored him, pointing to a collection of rocks, about two hundred yards to their right. "It will give us the high ground and enough time to save his life."

"Yes I see them. But we will be running out in the open to get there, not to mention once we are there we will be sitting ducks."

"That may be, but as we are right now, we are playing right into their hands." She countered. "If we can buy ourselves enough time maybe the reinforcements will get here before its too late."

Takeshi didn't have to think for long. He was sick of running anyway. If he had to make a last stand, there were worse places to do it in.

"Alright we will do it your way."

Soon they were camped behind the rocks. Takeshi had even found the time to set-up some rudimentary traps. He kept watch as the medic in the team worked on their leader.

"How is he?" Takeshi enquired. For the first time he saw the condition the captain was in. His armour was literally blown off. His right arm and leg looked like they had gone through a meat-grinder. These were the wounds he could see. Thankfully the man was unconscious.

He watched as Haruno worked. Using a kunai she severed the jacket off his body.

"He is in tachycardia." She said. "His heart is beating harder and faster than it should." She elaborated probably catching on his confusion.

"What does that mean?"

"He should be going into shock due to blood loss, his heart should be slowing down, not speeding up." Sakura removed the emergency dressing she had managed on the run while unsealing a syringe from the medical scroll. "It means the shrapnel was probably laden with a toxin to make sure something like this happened."

"But you can extract the poison can't you?"

Sakura removed the cap from the syringe with her mouth, revealing a 3-inch needle. She then proceeded to plunge it into his thigh.

"Won't do any good." She said. "The damage has been done."

Takeshi's heart sank. After all that trouble it looked as if they were going to fail. He had already lost one comrade. He didn't want to lose another. But that was the life of a shinobi. So he was surprised to see their medic still working hard. She had unsealed an IV line from another scroll. She tied a ribbon around her upper arm tying a knot using her teeth. Heating the needle using a lighter, she plunged it at the junction of her elbow and forearm, without so much as a grunt.

"What are you doing?" Takeshi asked mystified by her actions.

"Right now a blood transfusion is his best chance." Sakura explained. "It might be his only chance."

Now Takeshi would never claim to be a medic-nin. But he did have the basic battlefield first-aid and emergency care down pat. And if he wasn't mistaken a blood transfusion between incompatible blood groups was a recipe for disaster. When he gave voice to his misgivings, Sakura merely shrugged.

"My blood group is O-negative, which means I can donate blood to anyone. Its not ideal but it will have to do." She paused, before taking a deep breath as if to steady herself. "He has lost a lot of blood and if he isn't treated he will lose more. More blood than I can spare."

"So what is the point of all this?" Takeshi interrupted.

Sakura looked annoyed at being interrupted but continued nevertheless. "I will channel healing chakra through my blood and if everything goes well, he should be fine."

"If it doesn't?"

"He will die and most probably I will too." She said nonchalantly. "Its an extremely delicate procedure and would require all of my concentration. I would need you to defend me. Can you do that?"

"Have you ever done this before?"

"Only Tsunade-sama has ever pulled this off successfully." She said irritably. "But she demonstrated the procedure and I know the theory, it should be fine. Now can I count on you to watch my back?"

"Will this work?"

Sakura turned to him, holding his gaze. He thought a saw a moment of indecision and uncertainty in them, but it was gone as soon as it had come.

"Guess we will find out." She plunged the other end of the line into her own arm to start the procedure.

Takeshi wasn't sure if he should be amazed or exasperated. He was probably seeing a legend in the making or an idiot who was biting off more than she can chew. But seeing the resolute look in her eye, he couldn't help but admire her. He nodded grimly and Sakura satisfied began the procedure.

Not a moment too soon as a rain of kunai started to pepper their location. Arming himself with a kunai he prepared himself for the coming onslaught. His comrades were counting on him and he couldn't afford to fail. Peering over their hiding place he could see thirty shinobi scaling the rocks to get to them.

The two in the lead were barely fifteen yards from them, when one of Takeshi's traps triggered itself. The explosion blew them off the cliff while slowing the rest, as they took cover.

The good news was he wouldn't have to face wave after wave of enemy hordes.

The bad news was that now they will switch to long range attacks.

Takeshi wasn't a chakra powerhouse by any means. He really didn't specialize in defensive ninjutsu either. His talents lay more towards the more subtle arts of ambush, tactics and traps. He wasn't suited to a battle of attrition. But his comrades needed him and he couldn't let them down. If Haruno Sakura could risk her life to execute a procedure which if done would take her life, then the least he could do was buy her enough time to pull it off.

He moved himself away from where Sakura was treating the captain. He must draw the fire away from them. They needed a target. He will provide them with one.

Palming five kunai between his fingers he scoured the area. He couldn't see anyone at the moment. At the same time he knew he couldn't afford to let them dictate terms of this engagement. Wrapping a couple of exploding tags around two of the kunai he threw them where he saw them set themselves up.

The screams of alarm and pain told him that he had atleast succeeded partially. Leaving his cover for a brief second to allow them a visual he ran through the hand-seals for the bunshin and had them running in different directions.

The E-ranked technique had almost been rendered obsolete, he however hoped that the confusion and chaos of the battle should help him cover him pull off his bluff. A kunai whizzed an inch past his ear, he could barely suppress his smirk as he felt his plan succeeding.

He could feel them closing the distance. They would be on him any second now. Whipping out another kunai he cut a wire to trigger a pre-arranged trap. He hit the ground placing his hands over his head as a mass of kunai flew over his head. He felt them dodge just for them to trigger another trap. This one involved explosive tags. Takeshi flipped backwards to get away from the blast radius.

He held his stance as he waited to see the results of his efforts through the veil of dust and smoke. It wasn't his best work. His traps tended to be more elaborate than that. But it was the best he could do with the constraints of time and resources. He cursed under his breath when he saw an earth wall surrounding the enemy. One of them was holding his arm trying to staunch a bleeding, but seemed good enough to continue the fight.

Feeling a presence behind him, he ducked a tanto, which would have taken off his head, now only managed a few strands of his hair. He kicked the swordsman away and tried to get some distance between them, except he was now closing the distance to the two shinobi who he had just tried to blow away.

He felt a kick to his head which made him see stars. He tried to reach for another kunai, but the enemy was having none of it. A wire wrapped around his hand and pulled back, flipping him on his back.

Spikes of earth rose where he landed, one pierced his arm and another sprouting from his thigh, effectively pinning him to the ground. He nearly blacked out from the pain, when he finally came to his senses, he saw three figures looking down on him. Two of them were masked, while the third, a woman with dark eyes and hair with a rather peculiar shade of blue. She was dressed in a green outfit with a red turtle-neck and brown fingerless gloves. Judging by the deference with which the masked shinobi were treating her, she seemed to be the leader. Their headbands had a musical note on them. His throat felt raw. Which meant he probably screamed his vocal cords off.

Oto.

They were supposed to have been disbanded.

"Well looks like we have captured ourselves a tree-hugger." The woman spoke, a mocking edge to her voice. "A nice hole you rats found for yourself. Now only if we could get the rest. You wouldn't happen to know where the rest of you are would you?"

Takeshi glared hatefully at the man, panting heavily, before spitting in her face.

The woman casually wiped the gob of spit from her face. "Well I guess Plan B it is!." She then proceeded to plunge a kunai in his knee-cap, getting another scream out of him.

"You...are...wasting yo...your...time." Takeshi gasped between his words. "I... I'm not telling where... where they are."

The woman studied Takeshi with a look of mock puzzlement.

"You think I am torturing you to get you to tell me where your comrades are?" She said amusement lacing her voice. "Your stupidity continues to amaze me. You Konoha nins so big on comradeship... the will of fire. So ready to die for your people. Did it ever occur to you that as you would die for your comrades... your comrades will die for you too."

Realization struck Takeshi with the force of a biju. He was being used to get the rest out. He saw her smile as she comprehended the horror of her captive.

"So where were we?" She twisted the kunai in his knee as his screams filled the air.

"Stop!" A female voice shouted. The woman torturing Takeshi, turned to the source of the voice.

She studied the girl with a seemingly academic interest.

"Thanks for joining the party miss. " The woman addressed Sakura. "I am afraid we started without you, but it seems you got our invitation. Well better late than never. Though I can't help but notice the guest list isn't quite complete."

"He is dead." Sakura said shortly seemingly not keen on playing games. A part of Takeshi was really relieved that Sakura had come. He didn't know how much more of that he could take. Another part felt ashamed of that part. Now instead of just him dying, Sakura would too, and so will the captain. If he wasn't dead already.

"You people are sooooo... predictable." She whined impatiently. "It would have been funny if it wasn't so...boring."

At an unseen signal a couple of Oto-nin approached Sakura from behind with the intent to capture her, but they had underestimated the medic. She ducked under them, then proceeded to execute a leg-sweep catching them off-balance. In the blink of an eye she had the two acting as meat-shields for her, with her kunai at their throats.

"How is that for unpredictable?" Sakura said, a mocking edge to her tone now.

Takeshi couldn't help being amazed at this turn-around. They just might get out of this alive.

The woman after a moment of stunned silence, started laughing hard.

"I must admit." She conceded once she had her amusement under control. "You are more interesting than I expected."

"So this is how it is going to work out." Sakura said ignoring the woman. "You are going to let my comrade go, in return for one of yours. We are going to hold on to one for insurance, till we are safely out of here."

The woman studied Sakura like a poker player who knew she had the best hand in the house and was just playing along her opponent's bluff to raise the stakes. Takeshi knew that look. He had seen it one time too many during games' night in the chunin lounge. That's how he knew they were screwed.

With a wave of her hand she ordered the nin holding the doton jutsu pinning him to the ground to release it. The woman grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet, completely disregarding his pain, the smile never leaving her face. She pushed him forward towards Sakura. He barely registered the look of satisfaction on Sakura's face as she saw her gamble being pulled off. Then slowly it turned to one of horror.

Takeshi didn't get it. What had happened? He looked behind to see what was causing his comrade so much distress. The enemy hadn't moved. The group of Oto-nin were holding their place. The woman was still holding him up, her arms supporting his back, smirk in place.

Except it wasn't an arm anymore. It was... a pink crystal shard, going through his back and now protruding out of his chest.

His vision darkened as he coughed out blood. He didn't even register the pain as he faded into oblivion.

Location: Iwagakure, Chunin Exams Stage-II, Day-3

Venue:- The Valley of Lost Souls

Time: 4 AM.

Katashi rubbed his arms to generate some warmth for his body. He hated to be the last one on watch. But he had drawn the short straw. He still believed the game was rigged. He knew who to blame. But the thing was he really couldn't prove it.

He sighed helplessly as he waited for dawn to break. It had been a long 4 days. Though if he was been honest with himself it had been a long month. It all began when their jounin sensei decided to nominate them for the chunin exams barely 6 months after they had graduated the academy.

He remembered the day their sensei had announced the news. Kai ,their third teammate had lost his balance painting the second floor window of a client's house during one of those dreaded D-ranked missions.

The idiot had landed on his ass and broken his tail-bone. The doctor put him out of action for 6 weeks, followed by a month of rehabilitation, effectively putting him out of contention for participation in the exams and by extension the entire team.

Just when they had thought to have said goodbye to their chances of having been the youngest team to compete in the Chunin Exams in almost a decade, their sensei had found them a replacement in the form of an older genin who went by the name of Naruto Uzumaki.

He had joined their team a couple of weeks before the start of the exams. He looked about sixteen, which put him quite a few years ahead of them.

If there was one word he would use to describe him it would be...LOUD!

Everything about him from his golden locks to mischievous blue eyes to his clothes with a high ratio of orange screamed at him. Even when he talked he managed to be loud... even though he wasn't shouting. If that wasn't enough he had whisker birth-marks on his cheeks.

He didn't know what he had been expecting when he was told they would be joined by a veteran genin. But it sure wasn't this. To make matters weirder he was the goofiest guy he had ever come across. Even more so than Konohamaru Sarutobi, the class clown in his batch.

That probably explained why he hadn't been promoted till now. It was almost an unwritten rule that if you didn't get promoted within the first two years after graduating you were unlikely to go far in your career as a shinobi. Uzumaki Naruto seemed to be one of those people who had hit that wall and now found it insurmountable. In short he was a wash-out. He had shared his concerns with the female member of their team, Miyuki. She had been more optimistic about this addition than he had been.

"You seem to be overlooking the fact that he has survived so far." She told him when he brought it up during a sparring session. "If nothing else his experience should count for something."

After being put down like that he even failed to tell her about the wary looks his parents had shared when he told them about the replacement. That had been strange as his parents were civilians and shouldn't have known a washed-out genin, let alone be wary of him.

But it was the best they could do in such short notice. Over the next week and a half, they trained together and ran D-ranked missions to get some semblance of familiarity with each other. That's when he discovered another strange thing about Uzumaki. The older genin wasn't only competent in the D-ranked missions, he excelled in them and actually seemed to enjoy them too.

No-one enjoyed D-ranked missions. Even Miyuki had been mystified by his enthusiasm and when she had voiced her curiosity, he had stared at her for a full thirty seconds, his face losing its goofy nature during that time and resembled a man who had been through much.

His answer had been left them even more curious about the enigmatic blonde.

"Its good, honest work. Something of a rarity in our world. What's not to like?" He had said, before reverting back to his goofy persona.

So when the time finally came for their departure, which in itself raised more questions as both his and Miyuki's families had taken time to see them off and wish them luck, but not a single well-wisher had made time for Uzumaki. Maybe because he had none. They were left even more mystified by him.

He sighed warily. As much as it rankled him, the blonde genin had been the reason they were even in the second round. If there ever had been any doubt about his usefulness, they had been dispelled in the very first stage of the exams. If they had followed Katashi's directions they would have jumped off a cliff possibly to their deaths and definitely would have been disqualified.

Their arrival had been relatively mundane. Though he had to admit the history books didn't do justice to the sheer size and majesty of the place. Iwa was a valley surrounded by mountains which made Mount Hokage look like an eroded plateau. There was little greenery and most of the houses and buildings were made of red stone aiming for practicality rather than aesthetics. The visiting teams were settled in their community centre, which had temporarily be turned into a living space for over seventy teams of genin from 5 major and fifteen minor villages. . Despite being the greatest ninja village Konoha had thought it was prudent to send only one team. It wasn't all that surprising considering the history between Konoha and Iwa.

The living conditions weren't ideal but considering the fact they were to spend only one night there, none of them minded them particularly.

The next day they had been directed by one of the officiating chunin to proceed to the village square. Two hundred and sixteen genin lined up in groups of three representing the pride of their respective villages. The experience was a moment of great humility for them.

From there they had been led up on Mount Kamizuru, named after the clan of their First Tsuchikage. Once they reached the top of the cliff they were instructed to stand on an elevated platform over six hundred feet in length and made to face the cliff, in a single file, a distance of two and a half feet between them. He remembered breaking into cold sweat when he had actually dared to peer over the edge of the precipice. At least he had his teammates with him.

"Welcome to Stage-I of the 25th Chunin Exams." Their proctor, a big man wearing a red jacket and black trousers, standard attire for Iwa jounin addressed the gathering after joining them on the platform. "My name is Hibiki Kyouzo and I will be your proctor for this portion of the exam." He paused letting his words sink in. "A chunin is a leader. They must be courageous, resourceful, pragmatic and most importantly...decisive."

He paced along the row of nervous genin.

"A chunin must know exactly when to proceed and even more importantly know when to cut their losses and retreat. This test has been designed to test these very qualities. Pass and you proceed to the next round." He stared into the eyes of the genin, Katashi gulped audibly. "Failure will result in instant elimination."

"At the ends of the platform you are standing on you can see two jounin." Katashi spied Miyuki risking a glance to confirm the proctor's word. She wasn't the only one, as several heads were now swivelling in either direction to sate their very human curiosity. "They are holding this platform using an earth jutsu." He paused again for dramatic effect. "All you need to do to complete this section of the exam is... jump off the platform."

Katashi never thought he would describe silence as deafening, but that's exactly how he would describe the one that followed this declaration. Slowly as the genin got over their shock pandemonium broke out. The accumulated genin threw out shouts of indignation and outrage as they protested the rules.

"SILENCE!" The proctor roared over the din, causing everyone to go quiet immediately. "Those are the rules, and you will abide by them."

Katashi froze in his place. He couldn't believe this. He was being told to jump to his death? Next to him Miyuki's face had gone white. How could they do this? Was this Iwa's way to cut out the competition. Suddenly the honour of being nominated to participate in the Chunin exams didn't seem like an honour. Maybe it was Konoha's way to weed out the weak from their ranks. Suddenly even Uzumki's presence in their ranks was beginning to make sense. After all he was a career genin without a family or friends. His death won't mean anything in the grand scheme of things.

"What if we decide not to jump?" A genin from Kusa enquired.

The proctor's brutal face broke into a smile. A smile which bore no goodwill for their recipient.

"You will be given ten seconds to make the decision after which the jutsu will be released and the platform will collapse." His grin turned even more sadistic as he said the next words. "Your time starts now!"

10...9...

A group of genin to his right immediately jumped off the cliff.

8...7...

The first group was soon copied and several others decided to follow their example.

6...5...

Maybe he should be jumping too. He had heard things about the first stage during the Konoha Chunin Exams. He recalled hearing how the proctor had threatened the end of the careers of the participating genin if they failed to answer a question. The participating genin were given the option of foregoing the question altogether to save their careers. Eventually the ones who had stayed to participate had been passed.

4...3...

Maybe that's what this was. A test of their courage in the face of the unknown. Moreover they won't kill people in the first stage of the exam. That came later. His resolve strengthening he prepared himself to launch himself off the cliff.

2...1..

Just as he was about to, a hand grabbed his shoulder and with surprising strength pulled him back away from the cliff, backward off the platform. As soon as his feet left the platform it collapsed taking the rest of the candidates with it.

"That..." He turned to face the sunny visage of Uzumaki Naruto his hand still firm on his shoulder, "wasn't very smart of you."

Katashi turned to see approximately twenty teams had gotten off the platform. Miyuki was on her knees breathing heavily.

"Congratulations." They were greeted by the voice of their proctor as he surveyed the remaining candidates. "On passing Stage-I. Instructions for the next stage will be given shortly."

He had been a little out of it when it had been explained why they had been passed, trying to get his heartbeat in control. He was pretty sure the gist had been that the stupid people jumped into the cliff, the indecisive ones stayed on the platform till it collapsed while the ones who passed jumped off the platform, but backwards. There had been a lot of explanation regarding how the decisions chunins made on the field were life and death and consequences of a wrong decision can be disastrous.

"You actually figured all that out?"Miyuki asked Naruto having followed the words of the proctor.

"Not really." Naruto had said rubbing the back of his head, a sheepish grin playing on his lips, "the scary proctor told us to jump off the platform, I just thought it would be pretty stupid to actually jump off the cliff."

At this Katashi tried hard to fight down the blush threatening to colour his cheeks.

"Thanks for the save sempai." Miyuki said to Naruto, who just laughed and rubbed her head earning a blush from the girl. Even Katashi managed to mutter a thanks once he got over his mortification.

"Do you think they are dead?" Katashi enquired regarding the fates of the genin who had disappeared down the cliff.

"I doubt it." Naruto replied. "They must have some protective mechanism for making sure they lived. They really wouldn't want to start a war. I think."

"What do you mean sempai?" Miyuki said puzzled.

"We are shinobi." Naruto had offered as a way of explanation.

His relief at having survived the first round of the exams overcame any uneasiness he might have felt at that statement. They were led from the mountain to a valley on the other side. The valley was completely barren and uninhabited. Stretching for leagues.

"What you are seeing in front of you, is the Valley of Lost Souls." Their proctor explained. "Before the time of the great villages, this used to be a thriving market for the Land of Iron. Unfortunately it met its untimely end during the one of the most brutal battles of the First Shinobi war. Consequently as you can see what was once a symbol of the pinnacle of our civilization is nothing more than a barren wasteland now." His words had been surprisingly regretful. "And today it will serve as your battlefield."

So, that's what had brought them here. All the teams had been given a red banner. Their objective was to find the five check-points in the valley. They were supposed to tie each banner on a designated spot and in return would gain another one, which held clues to the next check-point and so on. Sounded simple enough. Except with everything that came with being a shinobi, this too came with a huge catch.

The final check-point will reveal itself only on the noon of the fifth day. After which they will have a window of only ten minutes to place their banners. If that wasn't bad enough, only the first four teams which manage to place their banners will qualify.

With rules like that, bloodshed was guaranteed. Katashi had been of the opinion that they race through the course, get to the final checkpoint and set-up an ambush for the rest.

Naruto had immediately over-ruled that.

"First-off you aren't the only one who has come up with that brilliant plan. I am sure others have thought of it too." He told him when Katashi had protested being overruled. "Secondly the check-point isn't going anywhere. Rushing in will only end-up tiring us out."

So, they had gone with the slow and steady approach. They had just gotten their third banner. So it could be said that they were on schedule.

He was brought out of his musings when he felt a sharp jab over his windpipe.

"You are a lousy lookout you know that?" Came the irritated voice of his female teammate.

"Or maybe I knew it was you." Katashi countered. "Couldn't sleep?"

"No, I just keep expecting for something to go wrong." Miyuki removed the kunai from his neck and walked around to take a seat opposite to him. Despite the chilly night they had refrained from making a bonfire. The reason being it would have just acted as a beacon to all the other candidates announcing their position. Being warm and comfortable just didn't seem like a good enough reason for getting their throats slit.

"We have made it this far haven't we?" Katashi assured her. "We will be fine."

Miyuki smiled at his effort to make her feel better, but it just didn't reach her eyes.

"So what do you think of sempai?" She said nonchalantly causing warning bells to go off in Katashi's head. Miyuki had never been one of those girls who took an active interest in boys. She was hard-working and skilled enough to have been one of the best graduates to have graduated the academy that year. She was in fact unrivalled in accuracy and a very good support and long-range specialist. The hint of admiration which entered her tone despite her obvious attempt to hide it, indicated the beginnings of a crush towards the older genin. Something that irritated Katashi for some reason.

But before he could answer, his ears were filled with a strange buzzing sound.

"Do you hear that?" Miyuki went on guard palming her kunai.

"Oh my god!" With dawning horror Katashi realized the danger they were in. It was bees, hundreds, maybe thousands of them, surrounding them. "Wake up Naruto. We have to get out of here." He ordered Miyuki while running through hand-seals to apply a genjutsu.

Miyuki went to the lump on the ground that was Naruto a few yards away wrapped inside a sleeping bag with the intention of waking him up, when a kunai wrapped with an explosive tag landed a yard in front of her right next to him.

Reflexes ingrained into her with years of training moved her body away from the blast.

"Sempai!" She screamed helplessly for her fallen comrade. She tried to get to her feet, when killing intent the likes of which she had never felt in her young life flooded the area. She couldn't move, paralyzed by the fear enveloping the very blood in her veins like poison. Her body broke into a cold sweat as the sound of buzzing came nearer.

But no! A defiance brought out by desperation pushed itself out of her. She will not die here. She moved her body just in time to avoid the first wave of bees. Her senses began to work overtime as she flattened herself on the ground. The killing intent was still permeating the area but it wasn't paralyzing her the way it had a few seconds ago.

Their enemy had yet to show themselves so they were entirely on the defensive. A hand found its way to hers and pulled her to her feet. It was Katashi with a sleeping bag over his head to protect himself from the killer bees.

"Where is Naruto?" He questioned.

Miyuki shook her head and Katashi swore under his breath.

"I placed a genjutsu on the bees." He said trying to explain the situation. "Its probably the only thing that is keeping them from attacking us."

"So what do we do?"

"We need fire. But unfortunately I don't know any fire jutsus."

"But we can create fire." Miyuki muttered. "I have an idea."

She opened her bag and studied the inventory. She had a flint, 8 explosive tags, sixteen kunai, three sets of shuriken, a spool of ninja wire 30 feet in length and other knick-knacks. Text-book shinobi survival kit. But there was only one thing that was useful to her now. Reaching for the explosive tags, she took a kunai and went to work.

"Are you crazy?" Katashi exclaimed on seeing what she was trying to do. "You are going to blow us up."

"Sshhh." Miyuki shushed him impatiently. "I know what I am doing."

At least she hoped so. Katashi was right to be wary. Explosive tags were volatile in the most controlled of situations. This was anything but. Her brother had shown her how to deactivate an explosive tag. Most people thought that explosive tags were nothing but compressed chakra exploding. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

An explosive tag was nothing but a storage seal, with different layers. Each layer acting like a storage scroll would, containing a component of the explosive. During activation all a ninja has to do is channel some chakra into the tag to unlock the seals allowing the components to mix to form the deadly mixture which then acted as an explosive.

So all she had to do was break one of the seals and drag the component out of it. In this case the highly flammable accelerant.

Theoretically, it was simple. Practically... not so much.

One mistake and the accelerant would flow into the seal instead of outside of it and would result in exactly what Katashi feared.

But they had no choice.

"How long will your genjutsu last?" Miyuki asked her teammate while working on her third tag.

"About that." Katashi ventured tentatively. "I have good news and bad news."

"Hit me."

"The good news is my genjutsu seems to be working just fine."

"The bad news?"

"It isn't supposed to."

Miyuki froze as she heard the grim tone of his voice.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that those bees. They are not wild." Katashi's face was ashen. "They are summons."

The uncertain terror in Miyuki's gut solidified to take a more concrete shape. Summoning was a high-level skill used by high-level ninjas. Whoever was targeting them were anything but genin.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself she steeled herself.

"One problem at a time." She said. "We need to get rid of those bees first."

She had deactivated three of her tags to get enough accelerant for her purpose. It had taken only thirty seconds to make a make-shift flamethrower using the rest of her supplies. Using the flint to spark a flame she used the accelerant to fuel it and aimed the flame at the summons.

For a second she wondered what she looked like with flames seemingly coming out of her hands. It seemed to be working too. The bees seemed to scatter in front of the dreaded fire. Just when it looked like they would be out of danger, another wave of killing intent washed over them. This one was even stronger than the last one. It actually brought them to their knees.

She saw visions of her own death. She saw herself lying on the floor bleeding to death, while Katashi lay disembowelled next to her, the stench of decay and rot permeating the air.

"Pathetic." A male voice reached her ears dripping with disdain. "Gotta admit they did well to survive the bees, but this seems to be the end of line."

"Stop playing with them Hiro." Another voice broke in. "Just put them out of their misery so we can move on."

"Fine, but you are no fun." The other said in a resigned tone.

As she heard those words she gained some clarity. She could see the two figures standing casually in front of them, without a care. Why shouldn't they? They had already killed one of them, and the other two were too helpless to do anything. She could see Katashi throwing up next to her.

"Don't worry." Their tormentor said in a soothing voice. "This will be over soon."

She saw the trajectory of the kunai thrown their way. There were two of them. One for each. It would impale her forehead. She saw it coming. Any resistance or defiance would be futile. She won't survive this.

She felt a tug of chakra on her body. The kind she felt when she used the kawarimi. But she wasn't using the jutsu. Though she didn't fight it and let her body go with the flow. Soon she felt arms around her shoulders as they dragged her away. A part of her wondered if the enemy decided to capture her. Maybe cut open her body and take whatever secrets they can glean off it. Though she didn't know what secrets they could possibly glean out of a genin level shinobi with no kekkei genkai.

"Is she going to be okay?" A voice she didn't think she would ever hear again said.

"Don't know she seems to be in shock. Might need to give her some time." Came the same voice again. Was he talking to himself?

"Miyuki." He said as if trying to calm a scared animal. "I need a sign from you to tell me if you can hear me. Squeeze my hand."

A hand moved into hers. After some coaxing she managed to return the grip.

"She is responsive." The voice was now filled with relief. "I think it is now safe to do this."

Suddenly warmth flowed back into her body. The terror leaving her like the darkness which retreats to the shadows when the sun rises. Her shallow breaths turned deeper.

"That's right breathe." The voice encouraged. "You are alright."

Slowly but surely her vision came back to focus on the sunny visage of Uzumaki Naruto.

"I thought you were dead." She gasped

"Well we are shinobi." He said nonchalantly. "Faking death is what we do."

Her relief at surviving and joy at seeing him alive finally overcame her and her hands found their way around the blonde's neck and she was sobbing on his shoulders. The older boy seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before returning the embrace. All this time she hadn't known how much bigger Naruto was than her. In his arms she felt like a little kid. He was warm and smelt of pine and earth. There was something both honest and comforting about it.

"There there its going to be alright." He gently stroked her hair trying to calm her down, but she only held on tighter.

She didn't know how long she had been in his arms, but after a while she finally gathered herself enough to extricate her arms from around his neck.

"Are you going to be alright?" He asked her looking concerned. She just nodded in response, wiping her nose with the back of her hand, that's when she doubled back when something caught her eye. A few yards away, she saw two more Narutos arguing in hushed tones over the unconscious form of Katashi.

"There are three of you!" She deadpanned.

"Yeah." The 'Naruto' with her laughed sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Neither of us is the boss if that's what you are wondering."

"The boss?"

"We are shadow clones."

She would have persisted with her questions except now she had bigger concerns.

"Is he going to be okay?" She made her way to the unconscious boy.

"He had an allergic reaction to the bee stings. But don't worry he has been given a dose of epinephrine, so he will be fine once he sleeps it off."

Something still seemed to be bothering her that she couldn't put her finger on. It must be her recent ordeal which must have put her in this state.

"If you guys are clones." She ventured tentatively. "Where is the real one?"

All three clones froze for a second and then shrugged at the same time. Something she found both creepy and fascinating. She had never seen clones act so independently from their user.

"Well it seems like the boss is done." One of the clones tending to Katashi said.

"Done with what?" Miyuki asked even more mystified.

"You'll see. Let's go and join him."

Confused but managing to hold her tongue Miyuki simply followed the group of blondes. Katashi had finally regained consciousness but had to be by the clones supported to be able to walk. He didn't look in good shape, but at least he was alive.

She saw him crouched on the ground checking over a body. She recognized the place as where they had setup camp. In broad daylight it looked almost like a different place.

"Hey boss!" The clone escorting Miyuki greeted him. "We got them."

The original 'Naruto'. Or at least she assumed it was the original looked up and his face broke into a relieved smile when he saw them.

"You are okay." He grinned. "Thanks guys, I owe you one."

"Any time boss." The three clones chorused before dismissing themselves in identical bursts of smoke.

"Did you do all this?" Katashi said slightly slurring his words.

"Yeah I did." Naruto replied matter of factly.

"You took out all three of them?" Miyuki enquired amazement colouring her tone. She saw the three bodies lying in various degrees of distress. One of them was lying a few yards away who from the looks of it had his neck broken. Another had his chest caved in, by what could have been a meat grinder, his eyes open in shock and terror. The third one could have been mistaken for being asleep if not for the thin line of red running across his neck.

Then she studied Naruto. Other than a few scrapes he didn't even look like he had been in a fight. When she thought about how outclassed she and Katashi were last night, the feat seemed even more impressive. Forget about fighting, they couldn't even stay on their feet. For the first time since she chose this life she was beginning to doubt her resolve to be a shinobi.

"Stop blaming yourself." Naruto addressed her seemingly reading her mind. "There was no way you would be ready for this kind of opponent."

"But they are genin too." Miyuki couldn't keep the hurt of her voice. She knew she had been outclassed, but to be told so by the object of her admiration was another thing entirely.

"Are you sure?" He asked her. "Take a look again."

More than a little perplexed, Miyuki obeyed and studied the bodies again. At first she wondered what he was talking about. But slowly it began dawning to her.

"They are too old." Katashi said joining the conversation, before realizing what he had said. He gave Naruto an apologetic look who merely waved it off.

Miyuki winced at his bluntness but agreed. They were old. Older than even Naruto. These guys looked to be in their twenties.

"Correct, but that's not what I was talking about." Naruto said approvingly before approaching a body and ripping off the sleeve of one of the dead, revealing a tattoo of the symbol of the Hidden Stone Village. "Congratulations my young friends, last night you had the honour of being targeted by the Iwa ANBU."

"What?" Miyuki exclaimed after getting over the shock of that statement. "Why would ANBU attack us?"

"Whenever a village hosts exams, it makes sure to send in a ringer team to get rid of the competition." Naruto explained. "After all the host village needs to look better than everyone else. This is their way of doing it."

"But isn't that illegal or something?" Katashi said not being able to help himself.

At this Naruto burst into peals of laughter. He must have continued for a minute or so before finally managing to control himself, heaving lungful of air.

"You almost managed to succeed where the Iwa ANBU failed, kid." Naruto said, causing Katashi's face to go red with mortification. "We are shinobi , everything we do is illegal."

"But what if we expose what has been done here?" Miyuki ventured.

"You will be dead before you can say the words 'cheater'." Naruto used air-quotes to emphasize the words. "Surviving is victory here kid. Take what you can."

"So should we continue the exams?" Katashi said, his voice full of uncertainty.

"No, the exams are over as far as we are concerned."

Miyuki wasn't sure if she should be relieved or disappointed. It wasn't just because of what she had gone through, but suddenly her entire world view seemed to have changed. She found herself questioning things she had taken for granted and now she wasn't sure if she wanted to walk this road anymore.

Her eyes met Naruto's and she could see no pity only understanding.

"Why are you still a genin?" Katashi asked with an accusatory stare at the older genin. "If you can take out a team of ANBU single-handedly, forget Chunin, you should have been a jounin."

"Strength and power don't determine whether you are promoted or not."

"Then what does?"

A smile broke into Naruto's face quite unlike his usual ones. This one actually reached his eyes if only to reveal the melancholy in them.

"I guess I am hoping you guys can tell me when you get promoted."


	2. You are Hired

Chapter 1: You have been Hired

Location: ANBU Headquarters

The figure landed exactly twenty yards from the front gate meeting the standard protocol. If he had been even so much as an inch closer, they would have been using his roasted remain as visual aid to teach new cadets what became of hotshots who tried to push the envelope a little too far. Then again he wasn't much for caution. As he walked in he knew, even though his body didn't register any change, that his chakra had been locked. A result of the elaborate fuinjutsu seals that lined the entire compound.

Understandable. It was after the ANBU HQ after all. Konoha's temple for all things related to its intelligence. It was the foundation on which Konoha stood strong, mighty and invincible. Everything from the priorities of missions to details of black-ops and strategic assets were processed here. A brain-child of the Nidaime Hokage, it was now entering its 77th year.

Anyone wanting to cripple Konoha would have to look no further for a target. Removing or even damaging the foundation would lead to its collapse. Sounded really simple right?

It wasn't.

The security around this place would make the one around The Hokage Tower look like Konoha market's on Trader's Day, though in entirely different ways. While the Hokage Tower was a fortress, nigh impregnable, ANBU HQ was more akin to a black-hole. You will get in, but you sure as hell won't be getting out. Not before the guys in the T&I Department were done with you anyway. After which your dead remains will be going to the morgue for incineration of course. The locking of chakra was just the preliminary measure.

It was something he discovered on his own. He had discovered at least a dozen more, he was sure there were hundreds. Sometimes in his free time he tried to frame scenarios where he was the enemy trying to infiltrate the place. None of them ended particularly well for him.

He walked to the first check-point, where he rolled up his sleeves to reveal his ANBU tattoo on his upper left forearm. The leaf symbol on his arm was a simple enough design and could be replicated by anyone with half-a-brain, except it really wasn't just a tattoo. It was his identity card. Each one was unique in its own way and trying to replicate one would not only be futile but incredibly stupid. The man manning the post scanned it once before waving him in. He passed through half a dozen more of these check-points. The entire process took fifteen minutes.

The place was similar to the Konoha mission desk in some ways. The same basic plan. But the difference was like night and day. An apt analogy. While the Konoha mission desk catered mainly to civilian clients, this was where the real action was. Matters related to Konoha's security only. Mission difficulty started from A-ranks and only got higher. Almost everything was classified. Rumor had it that the office of the Hokage itself wasn't in on half of what went on in here. The grey walls gave the place an oppressive aura contrary to the more friendly mission desk.

This place was Konoha's dark side personified.

He handed his mission scroll to the man manning the desk, who barely registered its contents, heads of three B-ranked missing-nins. Two from Kusa, and one from Kumo. It had taken him the better part of a month to track and kill them.

The man made some entries into a register. This info would be circulated and used to update the bingo books. It was a cumbersome process but it needed to be done. After collecting his paycheck he proceeded to the lockers. The locker led to the showers, something he really needed.

Most lockers had the personalized touch of their owners. Some made shrines of their loved-ones, others used theirs for keeping secrets from their loved ones. In here you could learn a lot about the men and women behind the masks if you just kept your eyes open. Some even kept photos of celebrities they admired.

His, however was more bare-bones than the others. It wasn't personalized in any way, containing only the bare essentials. A change of civilian clothes and his spare uniform were all it contained at the moment. He removed his mask and was about to reach for the clothes when he felt a familiar presence behind.

"You're losing your touch Kakashi." He observed dryly as he slammed his locker shut and turned around to see the man leaning on the lockers a few yards away from him.

The silver-haired cyclopes casually turned a page of his book as he spoke.

"Or maybe you just got better." He said, "Though I have to ask, were you just fishing for compliments?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, he couldn't believe he walked into that one. He could never get the best of Kakashi in a verbal duel. The man was craftier than a fox and more slippery than a serpent.

"Why are you here?" He settled for asking. While Kakashi hadn't officially been a part of ANBU for years, he was still engaged with them as a consultant, giving him enough reasons to be here. A fact, which never failed to irk him.

"You wound my heart Sasuke-kun." Kakashi said, still leafing through his book, "Here I was thinking you would have missed your old-sensei."

Sasuke had to admit, grudgingly even to himself, the man was a master at pissing people off. A talent which he suspected served the man rather well in the battlefield. He bet his opponents were too pissed and annoyed at him to be thinking clearly while facing him. The reason why Kakashi was still here and his opponents were not. His own irritation was so great that he barely registered that the man had used his real name a fact which went strictly against protocol.

"One of these days I am going to slit your throat in your sleep." He threatened.

"I'd be worried if you knew where I slept." Kakashi remarked, "As for why I am here? I am here to offer you a job."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I already have a job."

"I'm offering you a better one." Kakashi shut his book and tossed him a scroll, which he caught.

Despite himself Sasuke opened the scroll, burning with curiosity. A quick look through it and he shut the scroll to toss it right back at his former sensei.

"Not interested." He said curtly.

"Why not?"

"I work alone. Teams aren't my thing." Part of the reason he took this job was the liberty it allowed him, he wasn't ready to give that up.

"Hmm… anything else?" Kakashi asked him, concern lacing his voice, which could easily be mistaken as genuine, but Sasuke knew better. However he had been given an opening and he would exploit the shit out of it.

"Gee, I don't know. It couldn't be because of the fact that you're demoting me to chunin, or the fact that you'd be leading it. Couldn't possibly be either of those could it?" He tried to lace as much sarcasm as he possibly could.

Kakashi chuckled as if enjoying the antics of a misbehaving puppy.

"It's cute how you seem to be under the delusion that you have a choice." Kakashi said.

"You seemed to have overlooked the fact that you're not my superior Kakashi." Sasuke smirked, "I answer to the ANBU Director, I doubt he would be keen to let me go."

Kakashi said nothing for a while and seemed to sigh with defeat, and Sasuke's smirk got wider, having finally got one over Kakashi. He turned around to walk away and only his reflexes stopped the projectile from hitting his face. He was puzzled. Kakashi wasn't petty enough to throw stuff out of tantrums. He studied the projectile closely and realized it was another scroll.

His stomach dropped. It had the official seal of the ANBU Director which could only mean one thing.

"Is it…"

"Your relieving letter?" Kakashi chirped cheerfully, "Yes, it is. The ANBU thanks you for your services."

Sasuke couldn't believe this was happening. He had nightmares which started like this. Maybe this was one too. Any moment now he would wake up and forget about all this.

"You're not dreaming Sasuke-kun." Kakashi said, his words barely being registered through the haze of Sasuke's shock. "Training ground 7, Friday, 9 AM sharp. See you then."

Kakashi walked away from Sasuke giving the boy time to process his fate.

"One down." He said to himself, "three to go."

Location:- Konoha General Hospital.

"So, I told her if it bothered her so much she should just avoid her you know." The elderly woman said, "I mean if she spent a fraction of the time bothering me telling her how she exactly felt about her, she wouldn't be in this mess now would she? You know what I mean?"

"As a matter of fact I do, Risu-san." Sakura said smiling indulgently at the woman, while checking her blood pressure. Her current patient was a lady well into her sixties. She wasn't exactly a patient. She was just here for her weekly health check-up. For some reason she always requested Sakura.

Konoha had a program where shinobi medics were required to volunteer in a civilian hospital for a preset number of hours. The idea was to establish a camaraderie not only between the shinobi medics and their civilian counterparts but also the general populace. Most of the medics she knew treated their hours with the enthusiasm of five-year olds faced with the possibility of eating their greens without the added advantage of knowing that it was good for them.

For, Sakura however the mundane everyday problems of the civilian populace made for a welcome change after the life and death situations she dealt with in the field.

"You know Tsukune will be here next month, so maybe you could show him around you know."The woman continued the lop-sided conversation, "He really doesn't know anyone here."

Sakura sighed, Tsukune was Risu's grandson. She was the woman's favorite topic of conversation along with her neighbors and her youngest daughter-in-law. He was a businessman who owned several casinos in the town of Tanzaku-gai as Risu often bragged. Ever since striking a friendship with Sakura she had gotten taken with the idea of setting her up with him and always seemed to be working towards that goal 'not so subtly'.

"I might not be in Konoha then." Sakura said gently trying to sway the woman from her current line of thinking, "You know how the system goes."

"Yes, yes I know." The woman said dismissively, waving her hand, while Sakura helped the woman to her feet and into her coat, she had taken off at the start of her check-up. "I don't know how a nice, pretty girl like you can throw in your lot with those barbarians."

Sakura laughed the woman's concerns away, not taking offence to the woman's words.

"Everything looks good Risu-san." Sakura told her patient, "I will have Saburo send over your full report by tomorrow."

The woman went her way, extolling the virtues of garlic which she credited to her good health, while Sakura went to the office of the Senior Medical Officer to take her next case.

"Well, that's it for the day Sakura-san." He told her, "It's been a rather slow day. By the way there is waiting for you, saying you were late for an appointment."

Sakura grimaced. She had hoped that she would receive a pass today. Apparently, no such luck for her. She wasn't looking forward to this. She could always skip, but that would be just avoiding the problem for now in return for escalating it later.

Her choice was made.

"I guess I will be leaving then." She told the man who nodded sympathetically at her predicament, even though he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Take your time." The man called after her. "Take the rest of the day off, if you have to."

"Thanks."

Sakura discarded her hospital gown and changed into her uniform before exiting the hospital premises to rendezvous with her escort and was surprised to see her best friend.

"Well well look who's finally here." Ino said, her tone laced with amusement, seeing her friend in disarray. "Hope you have a handy excuse, 'cause he wasn't happy."

The old Sakura would have gone on the offensive or made up some excuse, these days however avoiding conflict was becoming something of a habit.

"He sent you to drag me to him?" Sakura said a little skeptically.

"Oh no dear, I volunteered." Ino said unashamedly, "Now let's get you there shall we?"

"You seem to garner a lot of pleasure from my misery." Sakura complained as she walked next to her friend trying to prepare herself for what was to come next.

"You brought it on yourself." Ino countered, "You missed your last two appointments forehead."

Sakura barely registered her hated nickname, as her mind wandered to the reasons she was summoned. If she had, she would have caught the concern in her friend's voice. But right now she was just walking resolutely forward, wanting it to be over.

"Look I know it has been hard, but he is just trying to help." Ino told her, "So cut him some slack will you?"

"I'll try." Sakura said trying not to commit, "You know you don't need to escort me all the way there."

"Hey I'm just following orders? But I will make it up to you." Ino said unashamedly before changing tracks, "How about a girl's night out? I will see if Hinata and Tenten are free and we can all go out."

Sakura bit her lip, not quite sure if she wanted to and to make matters worse she really didn't know how to refuse her friend either.

"Come on Thursdays are Lady's Night at the Blue-bar." Ino kept trying to convince her.

"Fine." She finally conceded, earning a whoop of celebration from Ino. Sakura couldn't help smiling. Ino's enthusiasm was infectious.

Her good mood however plummeted a few notches, when she realized that they were finally where they needed to be.

The building they were at wasn't large or imposing by any means. It was a single-storey, white structure with a cobbled pathway leading to the front door surrounded by a plush green lawn, giving it a rather pleasant aura. But at the moment it was the most intimidating place in Konoha as far as she was concerned. It didn't help that it stood right next to the building that housed the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Department.

"Well this is it." Ino squeezed her arm once offering comfort, "Good luck."

Taking a deep breath to steel herself Sakura walked towards the building like a convict walking to their death. The receptionist guided her to his office, whose mahogany doors were shut at the moment. Without pausing she rattled the gold plated knocker announcing her arrival.

"Enter." Came the command from inside.

On entering the first thing that greeted her was a pleasant smell, one she couldn't quite place. It was distinctively floral, but unlike any she had ever encountered. The rest of the room looked familiar. Painted light yellow, with a medium-sized desk and a few chairs. Sheaves of files and paper occupied the lone table in a state of controlled mess. In addition there was a couch placed near the right side wall of the room. The man was the last thing that entered Sakura's line of vision. He seemed to be working on a plant. Wearing gloves, the kind gardeners wore, and diligently snapping twigs off the plant with a pair of shears.

"Take a seat Sakura-chan." The man said without bothering to turn around, "I will be with you in a second."

Sakura patiently waited for the man to finish his work. She didn't have to wait long fortunately. Snapping his gloves off with a pleased grin, and removing his goggles he smiled at her and waved his arm towards the plant.

"So what do you think?" He asked her with the air of an artist revealing his masterpiece to the world.

Sakura blinked in confusion for a couple of times before realizing he was asking for her opinion about the plant. Recovering, she studied the plant for a few seconds before feeling confident enough to give an opinion.

"It definitely looks healthy enough." Sakura ventured, "But I must admit I have never seen flowers like that. What is it?"

"I haven't named it yet." He said, pride evident in his voice, "It has a very pleasant fragrance doesn't it?"

Sakura was impressed despite herself.

"It's beautiful." She murmured.

"Yes it is." The man agreed, "But unfortunately we must now turn our attention to less pleasant subjects I am afraid."

Sakura grimaced, waiting to be given a dressing down. Inoichi Yamanaka, her counselor also happened to be the father of her best friend. He had seen her grow up and he had been a part of a lot of her pleasant memories. That didn't make any of this easier though. He had taken a personal interest in her case. Something which would have been frowned upon because of his personal history with her, but he had made it happen.

She still wasn't sure if she should be grateful for his consideration or angry at his coddling.

"Why did you miss your last two sessions?" He asked her, taking his seat on the opposite side of the table facing her.

"I have been busy at the hospital." Came her automatic reply.

Inoichi looked at her disapprovingly making her cringe, but seemed to let it go.

"So what have you been doing lately?"

"You know the usual." Sakura shrugged, "Work, home…. Just life in general."

"You moved out of your house a couple of years ago." He observed, "What made you take that decision?"

That wasn't a hard question to answer. "I had been a chunin for several months by then, my hours were inconvenient to say the least, it just felt like the right time."

"Has that affected your relationship with your parents?"

"Mother took it hard at the beginning, but she was supportive."

"And your father?"

"….. No, it didn't change anything."

"What about your relationships outside your family?"

"I have drifted away from most of my Academy friends except Ino, though we are still cordial with each other when we meet up."

The series of questions and answers continued for a while. Sakura had begun to relax when Inoichi finally closed on a topic which was a potential minefield.

"You were in a relationship I believe."

Sakura paused as she pondered over what she would say next. She had indeed been in a serious relationship. She had dated a civilian for almost a year after becoming a chunin. He had been the son of one of her mother's friends. She had met him at a party, and one thing had led to another. He was handsome, charming and sweet and unlike most civilian guys wasn't intimidated by her job and status as a kunoichi. So when he had asked her to be his girlfriend, she had accepted. The first few months had been great. He was supportive and seemed to take pride in the fact that he was dating a kunoichi. But inevitably her job started to take a toll on their relationship. Her newly acquired rank and status as a medic kept her busy in the field for almost three-quarters of a month. It was getting harder and harder for them to take time out for each other.

But they had been determined to make it work and tried hard to keep at it. Her last field mission had served as the final nail in the coffin however.

"It wasn't working out." She tried to be nonchalant about it, but talking about it was still like getting stabbed through her heart. "We couldn't make time for each other."

"You broke up after you returned from your last mission, and you haven't been in the field for almost three months now." Inoichi said, "So, would you want to talk about the real reason?"

Sakura remained silent this time. Resolutely so.

"You need to talk about what happened to you sometime Sakura." Inoichi sighed, not put-off by the girl's defiance, "Keeping these things bottled up is unhealthy."

"I just don't feel ready." Sakura muttered, breaking eye-contact with the man.

Inoichi remained silent for a while, before tearing a paper from his pad and scribbling something on it and handing it to her. Sakura realized it was an address. She looked up at him questioningly.

"This is the last session you will have with me Sakura." Inoichi said, "I am clearing you for active duty."

Sakura was shocked. This was the last thing she expected. Technically a shinobi could be cleared three months after having survived a 'traumatic' mission, but she hadn't expected it. Getting back on the field wasn't something she had been dreading but it wasn't something she felt she was ready for either.

"Just like that?" She asked thoroughly puzzled.

"You have your issues Sakura." He elaborated, "But if our sessions have told me something its that I can't be the one to help you. Only you can do that."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Just the opposite. I know exactly what you are going through." He said gesturing towards the piece of paper he had just handed her, "When you have the time go to that address any Friday, 5PM."

"I don't have to go if I don't want to?"

"I wish you would." Inoichi admitted, "But no, its completely voluntary."

Sakura stared at the paper for a while before pocketing it.

Sakura left Inoichi feeling rather weird. She hadn't been expecting that. Feeling a little dazed she made her way to her apartment. She was barely halfway there, when a messenger chunin intercepted her, handing her a scroll. The scroll carried summons from the Hokage herself. This day just got a lot more eventful than she thought it would be, when she woke up this morning.

Thanking the messenger she changed her course to the Hokage tower.

The receptionist at the front-desk took one look at her and waved her in, leaving her mystified as there were several others who were seated in the waiting room to meet the Hokage. Two of the men she recognized as prominent merchants who had dealings with her family and one looked like an official from the Daimyo's court.

Suddenly a cold ball of dread took shape in her abdomen. Why had she been summoned? She was a mere chunin. Someone way down the food-chain to be even considered being granted an audience. Let alone being a priority over actual important people. She had seen the Hokage only twice. Both times it was during guest lectures that she gave to aspiring medic-nins in the program. One was a theoretical lecture on the effect of various toxins on the cell membranes of various tissues. The other was a practical class where she demonstrated an extremely risky procedure involving the use of healing chakra through one's own blood. Something she had tried in her last ill-fated mission.

The Anbu stationed at the door opened it to allow her in. She muttered a thanks as she walked in wondering what exactly she was walking into.

The first thing that came to mind when she entered the Hokage's office was that it had one hell of a view. The right window opened out to give an excellent view of the Hokage Mountain, while the left gave a panoramic view of the entire village. The room itself was simple enough, though rather tastefully furnished. Then her eyes fell on the lone occupant of the room.

Tsunade Senju was a beautiful woman in her fifties who didn't look a day over twenty-five. But that was just the physical aspect. She was also one of the most feared ninjas of the era, the greatest medic-nin bar none with a pedigree matched only by the now nearly extinct Uchiha. In her relatively short reign as the Hokage she had proved herself to be a shrewd and effective administrator.

Sakura stood there awkwardly staring at the great woman, who seemed to be engrossed in the paperwork in front of her, not even registering the additional presence in the room. Feeling she should do something, Sakura bowed from her waist.

"Chunin Haruno Sakura reporting Hokage-sama."

The woman's eyes peered over the folder she had been reading to meet Sakura's. Sakura resisted the urge to gulp, and fought her shaking knees. It might have only been three seconds before she spoke, but to Sakura it felt closer to three hours.

"Take a seat Haruno-san."

Sakura obeyed trying to keep her movements smooth and graceful, something she failed at as she almost knocked over a pile of files off the table. Her reflexes saved her from a greater embarrassment. Mumbling a quick apology to her leader, who ignored it altogether, she finally settled herself.

"I was just going through your file." She said, indicating the folder she had been reading, "It makes for a really interesting reading material I must say. There is a lot to like here."

Sakura remained silent as the Hokage continued to talk.

"Top grades in the academy, graduated with honors as the top kunoichi at the age of twelve. Disciplined, focused and driven, with a keen intellect and imagination. Works well with others and shows potential as a leader." Tsunade continued, "Very impressive indeed."

Praise from the Hokage should have been a matter of joy and pride for her, but she had a feeling this meeting wasn't a pat in the back for doing a good job.

"And it gets better, participated in your first chunin exams six months after graduating on the recommendation of your jounin-sensei and made it to the final round, eventually earning a field promotion a few months later after which you joined the medical program, where again you distinguished yourself as the brightest candidate to have walked through the program, completing the four year course in two and a half. I can go on and on. All your superiors have written you glowing recommendations and have nothing but praise for you."

Sakura could sense a 'but' coming.

"So.." Well close enough, "Why are you wasting your time?"

Sakura had walked in expecting to be reprimanded. She wasn't sure for what but she was expecting it. But to for her to be on the receiving end of one because of her achievements wasn't something she knew how to respond to.

"I…. I'm afraid I don't understand Hokage-sama." She stuttered.

"I read your file, up to and including your last field mission." She said then she held up another file, she recognized it as one of those written by Inoichi containing the psychological evaluation of the shinobi returning from field duty, "There is only one thing I would like to say to you, get over your pity party kid."

Sakura's jaw almost dropped to the floor, but Tsunade was on a roll now.

"You're not the first to lose their team on the field and you won't be the last, hell this might not be the last time 'you' lose a team. This is the world we live in, and I'm not going to coddle you and hold your hand to say everything will be alright. You're a kunoichi for kami's sake, and I won't have you playing nursemaid to a bunch of civilian grandmothers." She paused to take a breath, "Cause if that's what you are going to do, I swear I will kick you off the force myself. So I will ask you, is that what you want?"

A bubble of rage expanded within Sakura. How dare she? For the first time in a long time, she could feel her blood pounding again with adrenaline. She wanted to rant and rave at the woman, though the saner and more rational part of her head told her that the actions she was contemplating could be treated as insubordination at best and an assassination attempt at worst.

Clenching her fist in her palms she managed to calm down and answered in a relatively calm voice.

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good." Tsunade clapped her hands once, "In that case, you are reassigned. You will meet your new jounin commander three days from now at the Training Ground 7. I don't care what you do to get your shit back together, get drunk, laid or whatever you kids do these days to clean your systems, I want you mission ready. Any questions?"

The rather blue language of the Hokage aside she did have questions. She had a lot of questions as a matter of fact. But she also had the feeling they wouldn't be appreciated at the moment.

"No Hokage-sama." She settled for saying with as much defiance she could pack in her voice. Just for a fraction of a second she could see a hint of approval, in the Hokage's gaze, but it was gone as soon as it came.

"In that case you're dismissed."

"So, there I did your job for you." Tsunade said to the seemingly empty room once the chunin had left.

From the shadows emerged a tall, masked, gray-haired man with his head band covering his right-eye, casually leafing through a book in his hands. She really wished he had the courtesy to not read it in her presence at the very least, but it was one quirk she had tried to overlook considering what she was putting him through.

"The girl has fire and I can see why you'd want her." The man admitted pocketing the book, "Though I must admit that was kinda harsh even for you."

"She will get over it." Tsunade waved off his concerns nonchalantly, "Don't you have somewhere to be right now?"

"Hmmm… I guess I do." The man said, "If you'll excuse me."

"And Kakashi." She called out to the back of the exiting jounin as she went back to her paperwork, "Don't be late."

Location: Konoha Mission Centre

Naruto patiently waited his turn in the queue to submit his mission report and more importantly collect his paycheck. Even though, the correct term should have been wages if he was being honest. The mission was nothing more than household chore undertaken for the civilian populace and in some cases the shinobi ones too. A shinobi of his age should have found the work degrading and genin his age were generally looked down upon by their more 'successful' compatriots.

But he didn't mind. Work was work and money was money. After all pride never paid bills nor did it put food on the table. He had no family and few acquaintances so in his opinion he did just fine. He didn't mind the work either. It was honest work and gave him a chance to be productive. His work had gained him some popularity with the clients too. Popularity though probably was not the right word. But he was definitely sought after. On a good day he could complete three missions.

So he ignored the borderline condescending looks he received from the rest of the shinobi in line. Most of them were directed his way by the Jounins who were escorting their wards after a day of missions. The genin usually kept to themselves still soaking in the novelty of finally being given the right to be called shinobi. There was the odd one here and there who would be sulking about the D-ranked missions. But most of them were just too happy to be part of something bigger. Still untouched by the cruelty of their world.

When his turn finally came, he was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar and friendly face at the mission desk.

"Hey Naruto." The scarred but smiling face of Iruka greeted him. "Long time no see."

"I will say." Naruto returned the grin, "You got fired from the academy or something sensei? I knew they would wear you down eventually."

"As if!" Iruka snorted, "After having dealt with you for so long, I have gained the resilience of a mountain. You know what they say…. What doesn't kill you!"

Iruka and Naruto went back some way. During his Academy days, Iruka had been his teacher and some might even say a mentor. One of the few people who took an active interest in his well-being. Kami knew he wasn't an easy brat to care for. He had been a devil during his younger days. His pranks kept most of the chunin forces on their toes, Iruka included. It was funny how they became friends. It started as intense dislike.

Iruka had hated his disruptive behavior during the classes, and Naruto resented the man for being the only one to catch him and sabotaging his pranks. It soon became a contest. A test of wills. Neither willing to break before the other. Before long the intense dislike turned to grudging respect which turned to actual respect…and the rest as they say is history.

"Yeah yeah." Naruto conceded, "But seriously. What are you doing here?"

"Survival training." Came the reply.

"Ah! Ran?"

"Nope. Suzume."

"That explains it."

Ever since its inception the Academy held mock survival training sessions in and around the training grounds surrounding the village. It was led by the chunin instructors. It could last anywhere between a few days to a couple of weeks. Naruto remembered these times somewhat more fondly than the others. It also explained Iruka's presence here. With no classes to teach he had been assigned to the mission desk. Though Naruto knew it was more likely that he volunteered.

"Hey! People are waiting here." Shouted one of the disgruntled chunin in the queue.

"Hold your horses will you?" Iruka shouted back, before shooting Naruto an apologetic look. Taking this as his cue, Naruto handed over his mission reports.

"We should catch up sometime." Iruka continued handing Naruto his paycheck.

"Yeah we should." Naruto agreed. "Can't wait to tell you all about the excitement my last mission entailed when I stubbed my toe while painting a fence. Speaking of which you wouldn't happen to have any C-ranks for me would you?"

"You know you need a full genin team…."

"… And a jounin instructor… yeah I know. I had to try."

Iruka must have picked up on his dejection despite his attempts to hide it and his next words confirmed it.

"Tell you what. Why don't you meet me for lunch tomorrow. That will give you the chance to brag about the Chunin exams you participated in."

"I don't know…." Naruto muttered non-commitally.

"I will be buying."

"Ichiraku's at one?"

"Fine. Now get out of here brat, before you start a riot at the queue."

Naruto laughed good-naturedly as he walked out of the room, feeling better than he did when he walked in.

"Sempai!" A female voice came from somewhere behind him. Naruto paid it little mind. He wanted to get home, fix some dinner and go to sleep. Maybe he should make a trip to Ichiraku's. He hadn't seen Teuchi and Ayame in a while.

"Sempai!"

But then again he would be having lunch there tomorrow. So seeing his friends could wait. But he was really craving ramen right now.

"Sempai!" The voice called out again. This time a lot closer than before. Now Naruto was beginning to get annoyed at this nameless 'sempai' ignoring this girl. But before he could turn around and arm wrapped itself around his own and turned him around to come face to face with a familiar face.

"Miyuki?" He exclaimed on seeing the girl who for the last thirty seconds was trying to get his attention.

"Hey!" The girl's face was flushed. "I thought you were ignoring me."

"Yeah sorry about that." Naruto apologized running his hand through his hair. "I just wasn't expecting anyone I knew that's all."

As far as surprises went, this was a somewhat pleasant one. A few months ago in the Chunin exams held in Iwa, Naruto had been asked to be a part of her team to replace a teammate who had gotten himself injured during a D-ranked mission. Naruto still wasn't sure if it was funny that someone got hurt during a D-ranked or tragic because it happened more often than one would imagine. But he had bonded with the girl during the exams, in no small part because she now had picked up a mild case of hero-worship for him following the exams.

"We just came back from a C-rank." She said once the initial pleasantries had been exchanged. "Sensei and the guys are at the mission desk to submitting the report."

"That's great." Naruto fought down a pang of jealousy at her words. "So are you participating in the next exams?"

Miyuki shook her head, "Sensei thinks we should gain some more experience and skills before we attempt again, seeing how the last one went…. If you hadn't been there we would have been dead for sure."

Naruto nodded. It was true. He did save their lives. But they believed that he saved them from a team of Iwa ANBU.

That wasn't exactly true. They were being hunted, but it wasn't by a team of ANBU. There was only one in the team that attacked them. The rest were more than likely just your run of the mill chunin. Which was a good thing otherwise things might have gotten a little hairy. They had underestimated him, which factored in him dispatching them fairly easily.

But he really didn't mind her thinking that. After all what is an exaggerated tale or two without a couple of embellishments?

"There you are." A male voice interupted their conversation. "We wondered where you had gone… Hey Naruto."

Naruto recognized the new arrival as Katashi, the other member of his temporary team. Naruo raised a hand acknowledging him. Katashi walked up to them holding what looked like a paycheck.

"I did ask to be excused." Miyuki scowled, obviously annoyed at being interrupted.

"I just came to hand you your check." Katashi defended himself a little nonplussed at hostility emanating from the girl. "Also sensei is treating us to dinner, would you like to join us?"

The question was obviously meant for Naruto and the boy was obviously being polite. Naruto was about to refuse.

"Do join us sempai." Miyuke chimed in, "I am sure sensei would like to speak with you too."

Well that changed things. On the one hand Naruto was sure while their sensei probably would like to talk to him. The jounin had after all enlisted him to allow his team to participate in the exams. They probably won't appreciate doing that in front of their genin. Definitely not while he would be mooching off of them in a team gathering.

Still…. It was a free meal, and Naruto felt he deserved a meal at the very least for his troubles . He was about to open his mouth to accept, when there was another interruption, this time by a jounin.

And not just any jounin.

Most people in Konoha would say he was 'The' jounin.

"Maa maa Miyuki-san, I would beg of you to reconsider postponing your dinner plans with Naruto-kun." The jounin addressed the genin. " I am afraid I will have to borrow him with regards to a matter of some urgency. You don't mind do you?"

The sudden unexpected arrival of the jounin had left the younger genin tongue-tied. Naruto didn't blame them. Even by the standards of jounin the man's appearance was unsettling. And despite the polite tenor of his voice and words, it was obvious he wasn't asking for permission.

"Um…"

"Excellent." He said as if the matter was settled. "Shall we?" He addressed Naruto.

Naruto sighed helplessly. "Sorry guys, I will have to take a rain-check on that dinner. Maybe next time."

Naruto followed the man outside the mission centre and soon fell into a step beside him. Soon the two of them were traversing through the Konoha market. It was a Wednesday. The traders sold their wares at reduced prices compared to the rest of the week. So it was a busier than usual.

"You know you just cost me a free meal right?" Naruto said, more than a little annoyed at the jounin.

"Technically ,free meals don't cost anything." The man quipped.

"Yeah… I am out of here." Naruto said, turning to walk away.

"Maa maa that was just a joke Naruto-kun." The man said placating the blonde genin. "But I have to ask, aren't you curious as to why I sought you out?"

Naruto was curious alright, extremely so as a matter of fact. But he also knew conversations like this were like a game of poker, and they held stakes. His curiosity versus whatever purpose the man needed him for. His ignorance of the said purpose was both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand whatever Kakashi had to say could definitely of use to him, on the other hand it could also lead to a situation he wouldn't be able to walk out of if he didn't do it now.

"Does it have something to do with my next meal?" Naruto quipped.

"…"

"Thought so." Naruto continued on his way. "I wish you a good night."

Naruto was feeling rather pleased with himself, before the jounin brought him crashing down.

"I could always order you to follow me." The man said in his trademark lazy drawl.

Naruto froze in his tracks. He hadn't thought of that. The jounin could indeed do that. He probably knew this might happen. Judging from his smug smile(not that he could see it behind his mask. The crinkling of his lone visible eye was indication enough though) he probably wanted it to happen.

"You wouldn't." Naruto tried to salvage some pride, but it was obvious he was only making things worse. The man however continued to regard him with his benign gaze, not bothering to even reply. Naruto sighed in defeat, before once again falling in a step besides the man. You don't challenge a royal flush to a show of hands with a lousy pair after all. Gotta know when to fold them after all.

"So where are we going?"

"Well it is time for dinner, I was hoping you could join me."

"…"

Naruto couldn't recall wanting to punch a man more in his life.

To say he was impressed would be an understatement. The man might be an A-grade jerk but he certainly wasn't a cheapskate. The restaurant he had been led to was one of those expensive posh types. Neon-blue lights lit up the entrance. Judging by the way the uniformed escort greeted Kakashi it was obvious that he was a regular here. Considering how he was able to simply jump the queue outside, he must be one the patrons.

A dark haired pretty woman probably in her twenties dressed in a blue flower-patterned kimono led them to a table near the back-end of the restaurant. Once they were seated Kakashi placed his order, before gazing at Naruto to do the same. Naruto was hoping to get some ramen. But he needed to get some payback on the man who had dragged him here. So he ordered three of the most expensive dishes on the menu. If it bothered the jounin, he didn't show it.

The server left but not before placing a bottle of warm sake on the table. The jounin poured some out in a saucer and offered it to Naruto before pouring some out for himself.

"May the will of fire burn brightly in you." The man raised his saucer, toasting Naruto.

"And may it have ignited a hundred more before it goes out." Naruto finished the ritual, before throwing the drink down his throat. He winced at the burn of the alcohol down his throat. It was strong stuff. He wasn't a great drinker and wasn't particularly fond of the drink either. But he endured. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered how on earth did the jounin drink it without removing his mask? He must have missed it. His saucer was empty, and he was now pouring a second round.

"You aren't going to kill me are you?" Naruto queried.

"No. Why would I want to kill you?"

"I don't know. What would an elite jounin want with a washed-out genin?"

"Touche."

"So, back to my original question. What do you want Hatake-san?" Naruto was through playing games, he simply folded his hands in front of his face and studied the man.

"Hmmm… So I am assuming you do know me."

Yes, Naruto knew the man. Even among the jounin the man was an elite. The cream of the crop so to speak. A hero in the last war, his exploits during and after the war had made him a legend. Though not yet thirty the man had survived through everything a shinobi possibly could and more. It was said that the man once cut through a bolt of lightning with his jutsu. Rumor had it that he had been considered for the post of Hokage after the demise of the Sandaime, before it finally went to Tsunade Senju.

"Only by reputation."

Kakashi inclined his head in acknowledgement of Naruto's unsaid praise.

"What do you know of Team-Seven Naruto-kun?" He asked.

There was a pause in the conversation as their server appeared with their food. Once she left, with a hasty 'Itidakimasu' Naruto dug in with gusto. He was hungry, and Kakashi was paying. It was no ramen, but it sure as hell was close. So for the next few minutes the conversation was halted as he inhaled his food. If Kakashi was offended by his table manners, he didn't show it.

"No more than anyone else." Naruto said between bites, "I know it used to be the single greatest shinobi unit in Konoha. They were known to enforce the will of the Hokage under his/her direct authority, and also produced future candidates. Loved by their people and feared everywhere else."

"Right you are." Kakashi said, sounding pleased. "Since the time of Nidaime-sama, Team-Seven has served as the arm of the Hokage. The Sandaime, Yondaime and even the Godaime form the illustrious alumni of this team."

Despite not quite sure where Kakashi was going with this, Naruto found himself enjoying the conversation. The place had a nice ambience, the food was heavenly, and he was listening to stories of legends by arguably the greatest living shinobi in Konoha. There were worse ways to spend an evening.

"Over time, however this institution collapsed." The jounin continued, "The last Team-Seven was disbanded over fifteen years ago."

"Why was that?" Naruto couldn't help asking.

"I am sure it was nothing important." Kakashi said nonchalantly.

"I don't know sounds pretty important to me."

"The point is." Kakashi kept talking ignoring Naruto's query, "The Hokage believes it is time Team-Seven was reinstated. This time under me."

That was all very interesting, Naruto had to admit, he just wasn't sure why he was being told this.

"Is that why you threw this…party?" Naruto spread his arms indicating the impressive spread of food remaining on the table. "I am sure congratulating you would be the right sentiment, but I must confess I feel rather sorry for you, if I am the only one you had in your guest-list."

"I'm afraid you misunderstand me Uzumaki-san." Kakashi said. "This dinner isn't celebratory, its business."

Now Naruto never considered himself among the brightest Konoha had to offer. His current rank and station were the perfect indicators of that. But street-smarts were something he prided himself on. The smarts he had earned from the school of hard-knocks. Those instincts of his were now working overtime as he pieced everything together.

"That's right Uzumaki-san." Kakashi said correctly interpreting the look of dawning comprehension on Naruto's face. "I am here to recruit you."

The piece of unagi between the two chopsticks didn't seem to make its way to his mouth. He replaced the chopsticks back on his plate, as he stared hard at Kakashi, all cheerfulness gone.

"Is this a joke?" He demanded.

"I assure you I have never been more serious." Kakashi assured him, his tone graver than it had been all night.

"Why on earth would you want a genin-washout in a team which has been known to churn out legends." Naruto remarked,"If these are the standards we are setting I would be really worried for Konoha."

"You seem to have a remarkably low opinion of your skills." Kakashi countered, "And of me as well if you think I didn't do my homework on you. You were after all Jiraiya's apprentice."

Naruto held the gaze of Kakashi's lone eye, ignoring the stab of pain in his heart at the mention of his old sensei's name. But he chose to hold his silence for now, letting the man speak.

"During his years of travel, Jiraiya had managed to create the most sophisticated information-network the elemental nations has ever seen." Kakashi said, "A network which served Konoha well, while he was alive. A network which now lies dormant."

"So that's why you want me?"

"You're the only one alive who knows how it operates."

Naruto wasn't sure how the man knew that. He had been sure that it was something which would never be needed again. The network Jiraiya had painstakingly created was totally independent of the 'official' Konoha network. The sheer complexity and intricacy of the thing was an art in itself.

"Believe it or not, in some ways you will be the most important part of this team." Kakashi said gravely, "It's not a bad gig you know. You will formally be a part of a team, running high-ranked mission not to mention a chance to rise through the ranks."

Naruto could hardly believe what he was hearing. Barely an hour ago he was lamenting his luck for being unable to go on higher ranked missions and now he was being asked to be a part of the greatest one ever….. Well potentially anyway. He knew there had to be a catch to all this, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He was about to be part of a team. That was all that mattered.

"In that case." Naruto closed his eyes, when he opened the again, they were shining with their usual mirth, "How can I refuse? So when do I meet the rest of the team?"

"Actually the team isn't complete yet." Kakashi's tone reverted back to its cheerful tenor, "As your first assignment, I need you to recruit the last member."

"Me?" Naruto blinked owlishly at Kakashi as he registered his words, "Why on earth would you want me to do that?"

"Because Naruto-kun, I believe you are the best man for the job." Kakashi handed the bewildered genin a folder. Naruto opened it with some trepidation. His eyes widened when he studied its contents.

"No way."

Character Profile

Sasuke Uchiha

Affiliation: Konoha

Registration ID: 0896

Rank: Chunin, ANBU Hunter-nin(formerly).

Teams: Team 5(formerly), Team 7(current)

Bio: Sasuke Uchiha is the last of his extremely feared martial clan the Uchiha after his elder brother in a fit of madness murdered his entire clan down to the last child, except for Sasuke. Vowing vengeance he patiently awaits the day when he can finally make his brother pay for his crimes. Graduated the academy at the age of twelve at the top of his class and becoming chunin at the age of thirteen on his first try at the Chunin exams held in Suna. He eventually went on to join the ANBU black-ops where he distinguished himself as a man who completed his missions without any collateral damage. A feat matched only by Hatake Kakashi, his ANBU mentor. Considered a genius on par with Hatake Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi, he is well on his way to more glory.


	3. Welcome to Team-7.

Shikamaru reached the assigned spot at 8 AM. Almost an hour before he was told to get there. The reasons for getting there early had nothing to do with his eagerness for the new job, but rather, as hard as it was to believe his own laziness. It was something he had worked out when he was barely a month into his stint at the Academy. After weeks of being pestered by his mother into getting ready for classes, he had decided to avoid the entire hassle by getting up early and reaching the Academy an hour early. It gave him time to sleep uninterrupted till the instructor made it to the class.

It also had the added benefit of getting his mother off his back, who was now proud of her son's enthusiasm towards his education and dedication to the shinobi life. A fact she never failed to regale her husband and friends with. His old man unlike his mother however, wasn't fooled and knew exactly what he was up to. But he never made a big deal, or rather any deal out of it. A fact he was thankful for, at least at the beginning anyway. The man had then proceeded to exploit this leverage(over his own son) by getting him to do his share of chores around the house. At times he wondered if carrying on the charade was worth it.

But there were few things he loved more than his morning nap, a fact his father was fully aware of, so he decided to play along, begrudgingly, waiting for the day he'd have some dirt over his dad. But the man was more crafty and devious than he gave him credit for and despite his best efforts he failed miserably. So he had decided that trying to find decent blackmail material on his father was more trouble than it was worth and things continued as they were till the day he graduated the Academy.

A part of him did wonder what he was doing here? He had been discharged for crying out loud. He was content in his empty and miserable existence. So the question remained. The answer wasn't something he had to ponder too hard over.

Naruto Uzumaki.

2 Days ago

Tobirama Senju Park, Konoha

11:06 AM

Shikamaru studied the three shougi boards in front of him. Two of his opponents were men in their fifties and the third just a couple of years older. The games were on their fifteenth, eighteenth and twenty-first move respectively. The length of the game had little to do with the prowess of his adversaries though. He could've finished each of those games within the twenty moves.

But this also happened to be one of his steady sources of income. If people realized how good he really was no-one would play him ever again.

Pragmatism before pride was one of the mottos he lived by. He'd lose a game here and there, to keep things interesting and to attract more opponents. He gave good odds to them too, most of the time in their favor.

So then why was he showing off by playing three of them at the same time? The short answer would be money, ten-thousand ryo to be precise. That kind of dough was nothing to sneeze at.

Focusing on the game he finished all three before thirty moves. The crowd which had gathered around the players dispersed.

"Good game kid." One of his challengers patted him on the back good-naturedly, while handing him the cash, the other two were a little more sour, but paid nevertheless. He was here for the money not the goodwill anyway.

Shikamaru couldn't help the smirk on his face as he collected his winnings. It was almost too easy.

"Hey! How about a game with me?"

Shikamaru turned to the source of the voice to see a blonde guy grinning like an idiot at him, as if seeing him was the best thing that happened to him in ages.

"I only play for money." He remarked, the blonde wasn't discouraged though as he reached into his pocket to fish out some money. A few crumpled notes and some coins were all he could manage.

"I have got…. 10 ryo." He said counting his money as he placed it on the table.

After his recent windfall he really wasn't eager for a game for a meager ten ryo. But he and the new arrival had a history of sorts and he was the only guy in Konoha who could lay claim to having Shikamaru in his debt.

"Take a seat then and I will set the board." Shikamaru sighed. "You can take black."

A few moves into the game, Shikamaru decided that he had waited enough.

"What are you doing here Naruto? You hate shougi."

"I came here to see how you were doing Shika." Naruto moved his knight challenging Shika's rook. "It's been what? Three years?"

"Three years four months and fifteen days." He moved his own knight threatening Naruto's bishop.

"But who is counting?" Naruto remarked dryly, moving his bishop getting it out of the danger zone, "I have been assigned a team."

"Congratulations." He said and removed one of Naruto's vulnerable rooks with one of his own.

"Thanks." He said, a little disgruntled about losing a powerful piece but tried to bolster his defences by moving a pawn, "What'd you say if I told you that as my first assignment I have to recruit you?"

"I'd say someone is yanking your chain." He moved his bishop to take Naruto's knight, "Check."

"Why'd someone like Kakashi Hatake yank my chain?" Naruto tried to salvage some pride by taking one of his rooks.

"I don't know, why'd someone like Kakashi want you in his team at all?"

The veiled insult failed to dampen Naruto's enthusiasm as he merely smirked at Shikamaru as if he knew something that he didn't.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"….How long have you waited to say that?"

"Nearly my whole life."

"Hmmm…. That explains it." Shikamaru said as he moved his last move, "By the way, that's checkmate."

"What?" Naruto stared at the board disbelievingly, "Already?"

Shikamaru shrugged as he began collecting the pieces and the money.

"C'mon Shika." Naruto whined.

"If you want a rematch come back tomorrow."

"I meant you joining the team."

"First of all I am not buying it." He was beginning to get annoyed now, "Secondly, I have been discharged, dishonorably if you remember, so what makes you think I'd want to even if I could?"

Naruto sighed heavily at his words.

"What happened during that mission wasn't your fault Shika, I have said it before and I will say it again. But that's not why I am here today." Naruto took a deep breath and met his gaze, "I have a feeling that whatever I am walking into right now is going to get extremely hairy. So what I am trying to say is that I would feel a lot better if you were there to watch my back."

And just like that a matter Shikamaru hadn't even bothered giving a second thought to, became the biggest decision to ever be taken by him.

Naruto then handed him a scroll.

"These are your reassignment papers." Naruto explained, "All you have to do is sign them and you will be reinstated as a Chunin in the Konoha Shinobi Corps."

Shikamaru stared blankly at the scroll he had been handed. His usually sharp mind was for the first time in a long time at a loss to process any of this.

"I can't go through that again Naruto." He called out to the retreating back of his once comrade his voice breaking.

"It will be different this time Shika." The blonde said without turning around, "I promise."

Having played that meeting over and over in his head, Shikamaru wondered if there was any way he could have gotten himself out of his current situation. Part of him admired Naruto for having maneuvered him to right where he was, another resented him for having managed to do it. He was supposed to be the genius goddamnit!

The scroll in his pocket lay heavy. He hadn't signed it yet. He needed to make sure that this wasn't some elaborate hoax first. He didn't want to be conned into something he could have avoided with a little circumspection after all.

All of this seemed too good to be true. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been proud of being a shinobi. Despite his less than stellar performance at the academy, he had managed to be the first in his class to attain the rank of chunin. The day he was dishonorably discharged had been one of the darkest days of his life. The only reason it wasn't the darkest was because of the reason for his discharge. His experiences with stuff like that had driven some hard-hitting life-lessons into him, lessons which came at a really heavy price. So now when he was offered what he had lost, he wanted to see the strings attached to that present.

A presence in the field broke him out of thoughts. He didn't bother moving or even opening his eyes. Whoever it was, they weren't hostile. He wasn't moving from his place unless he had to. The person whoever it was moved closer till they were standing right over him.

"Shikamaru?" A girl's voice, vaguely familiar called out to him as if they couldn't quite believe themselves, "Is that really you?"

Finally not having the excuse to keep up the charade of being asleep, he opened one eye to study his….companion. He was greeted by the sight of pink hair and green eyes.

"Sakura Haruno." The name came on his lips almost involuntarily, "Are you here for the same reason I am?"

"I don't know." Sakura eyed him rather suspiciously, "Why are you here?"

To be fair, Shikamaru really hadn't expected that blatant attempt to gather information work, especially not on someone like Sakura. But it was worth a try, and her evasive response had answered his question anyway.

"I'm here to meet a friend." He replied truthfully.

"A friend?" Sakura said skeptically, folding her arms as she towered over his prone form. "In a ninja training ground?"

"Well, that must mean my friend must be a ninja doesn't it?" He said a nonchalantly, closing his eyes back again.

Despite his closed eyes he could feel the girl's gaze trying to bore a hole through him. He could literally hear the gears turning in her head, as she tried to deduce the reasons for his presence there. All of which pertained to rather sensitive issues. Eventually her fidgeting was too much for him.

"I got reinstated." He said deciding to put the girl out of her misery, not really elaborating that he hadn't accepted yet.

"Oh.." Sakura said, apparently satisfied, but now left with even more questions she wasn't sure how to put forward. Well too bad.

The two of them fell into a more comfortable if still a little awkward silence. They belonged to the same batch in the Academy, that's how they knew each other. To say they were friends would have been a gross exaggeration though. They were casual acquaintances if even that. He only knew her as one of Ino's lackeys. So it wasn't really surprising that they had avoided each other's radars altogether.

Not anymore it seemed.

"So, who is this friend you're meeting?" She asked him.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He said, not really knowing how to skirt around a direct question like that, besides if he was being honest maybe he could get some honest answers as well, "So, what about you? Who are you waiting for?"

Sakura considered him for a moment before seemingly making up her mind.

"I'm waiting for my jounin commander." She said, "Before you ask, no I don't know him, I was just assigned and told to report here."

"Maybe someone played a practical joke on you." He ventured.

"I don't think the Hokage has a sense of humor." She snapped irritably at him.

"Oh…. Okay."

Well the plot thickened. Whatever this team was apparently the Hokage had a stake in its formation. When Naruto had dropped Kakashi's name, he hadn't really believed it. Now with Sakura implying what she was, some of his old worries dissipated but as was often the case, new ones took their place. Whatever is going down it is going to be big.

Last time he had bitten off more than he could chew, it really hadn't ended well. Maybe he should walk away while he still had the chance.

"So, who is this Naruto Uzumaki anyway?" Sakura queried, planting herself on the ground not far from him.

"Not anyone you'd know." Shikamaru answered, "He graduated a couple of batches before us."

"And how do you know him?"

"Enough with the questions!" He barked, "Why can't you just wait quietly?"

Sakura's face burned red with indignation and embarrassment.

"Gee, sorry if my questions got too personal." She retorted, before pulling her knees to her chin and wrapping her arms around them. She was now facing away from him.

Shikamaru sighed, women were troublesome, but his reaction to her innocent questions had not been appropriate. Even he could admit that.

"He was part of a mission I led as a chunin." He explained somewhat reluctantly, "Before I was kicked off."

He saw Sakura's back stiffen before slowly turning around, her green eyes filled with pity and sorrow as she seemed to understand why he reacted the way he did. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. He had led only one team during his tragically brief stint as a chunin.

"I'm sorry Shikamaru." She said.

"Don't worry about it." He tried to wave off her apology while trying to ignore his own pain at the same time, "You didn't know."

Fortunately he was relieved off the need to dispel the tension as the topic of their conversation chose to make his presence.

"Hey Shika!" The blonde called out as he walked in greeting him, in all of his orange glory while still twenty yards away from him. To complete the picture there was a half-eaten rice-ball in his hand, "You're here early."

"I'd have…. Whoa!"

Shikamaru wondered what could have possibly stopped him half-way through a sentence, when he realized Naruto was now openly gaping at Sakura as if not quite sure what he was seeing.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably as she withstood his gaze. She turned to Shika as if to ask what his deal was, before the blonde finally opened his mouth to speak. Years from now he would regret not being able to record this moment as Naruto said his first words to Sakura.

"Wow! That almost looks natural." He exclaimed, his voice full of awe, "What did you do to get that color?"

Sakura was stunned. In all her life she had never met a guy as blunt as the one who was managing a pretty impressive impersonation of a fish at the moment. Even when she had started the Academy her classmates had refrained from making fun of the rather unusual color of her hair. So shocked was she by his tactless inquiry that all she could do was mutter incoherently for a while before finally saying.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm digging your style." The guy told her, "I never thought anyone could pull it off, but I have to admit you do it rather well."

Now Sakura wasn't sure if she should be pleased or outraged. It didn't look like the blonde was joking or being malicious, despite what his goofy appearance suggested. Eventually she decided even if he wasn't making fun of her, fashion-approval from an orange wearing moron couldn't possibly be good. So, outraged it was.

"This. Is. My natural color." She said through gritted teeth.

"Wow! Really?" The boy remained awestruck, seemingly oblivious to the dam of righteous feminine fury about to explode all over him, "Damn! I was really hoping you had dyed it, but anyway I am Naruto Uzumaki."

Sakura looked at the proffered hand suspiciously, before shooting Shikamaru a look which screamed 'Is this guy serious?' Shikamaru just shrugged. Sakura would never know how hard he had been trying to hold back his laughter. One of the reasons for his non-verbal gesture was that he really didn't trust himself to speak afraid he'd lose it completely.

"And I think you should come down, waiting there can't possibly be comfortable." Naruto spoke again, this time apparently to the trees lining the training ground not giving Sakura a chance to respond.

A few seconds later, when nothing happened, Sakura decided the guy had a few loose nuts and just for a second, Shikamaru's theory about this being a practical joke made perfect sense.

"C'mon man!" He called out again, already losing interest in Sakura, "No need to be shy."

'Could this guy get any weirder?' Sakura thought to herself. She took a deep breath ready to tear into the guy when finally a figure walked out of the tree-line, glaring at the blonde. Sakura gasped and even Shikamaru gave a grunt of recognition.

Walking out in front of them was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

Even fifteen minutes ago if someone had told Sasuke that one day he'd meet someone who can be more obnoxious than Kakashi, he'd have laughed in their face, saying such a thing couldn't be possible.

Its funny how drastically your world-view can change in a few minutes.

This just hadn't been his week. It had started out well enough though. He had successfully eliminated the missing-nin he was after on Monday after cornering them near a hot-spring in Kusa. No witnesses and no hassles whatsoever. He'd then gone on to take some down-time in that town. The journey back had been inconsequential and so come Wednesday he couldn't be faulted for not knowing what was waiting for him back home.

Long story short he'd been literally fired from ANBU and then reinstated as a part of the regular corps under Kakashi of all people.

On Thursday however he'd played off the events of Wednesday as a figment of his imagination when he went to the ANBU HQ where he was promptly told at the very first checkpoint that his security clearance had been revoked.

He'd not taken that well. Nearly an hour of repeated pleading, shouting and threatening had failed to yield any positive results and on seeing the guard's finger itching towards his stun-baton, he had finally accepted his fate and trudged back home, awaiting the next day when he could finally wring Kakashi's neck.

On Friday he placed himself in prime ambush position, out of sight in the cluster of trees surrounding the training ground. It was only then that he belatedly recalled Kakashi's habit of being late. To his surprise however he hadn't even been the first one there. It was Nara Shikamaru who had beaten him to it. A guy he knew from his Academy days.

Strange! He had been sure the guy had been discharged. Then to his dismay, Sakura Haruno another one of his ex-classmates entered the field. These were people he was sure he wouldn't have to deal with ever again.

He forced himself to calm down. It was possible that she was here for a purpose other than what he was here for. Though he had a feeling he was being overly optimistic. It was almost time and no one else seemed to be coming. Plus if he was to be a part of a three man cell, he had a feeling that he was looking at his future teammates. He heard snatches of their conversation. Apparently he hadn't been mistaken about Shikamaru being kicked out of the shinobi program. But the guy claimed he had been reinstated.

Sasuke wondered how he had managed that.

At least things couldn't get worse, he had told himself.

He'd be kicking himself in a little while.

The reason for that made its presence made known. Literally. He could see him coming him from a mile away. His orange clothes and blonde hair would have stood out in an open market, in an empty field the contrast was even more glaring.

Well to be fair the guy wasn't exactly trying to hide himself. He had even greeted Shikamaru from across half the field. A part of Sasuke couldn't help feeling relieved though. That made three, maybe this wasn't to be his team after all. He even managed to enjoy the interaction which succeeded, between the blonde guy and the girl. His comments had left Sakura gaping like a fish and almost completely speechless.

But then something strange happened. The blonde looked straight at his hiding place and spoke.

"And I think you should come down, waiting there can't possibly be comfortable."

Sasuke was shocked. Not since his early days as an ANBU trainee had he been made out as easily as he had just been right now. He waited, maybe he was calling out to his cat or something.

No such luck.

"C'mon man!" He said when he didn't receive a response, "No need to be shy."

Reluctantly and more than a little bewildered he came out of his hiding place gaining a gasp of recognition from Sakura.

"You guys know each other?" He said, evidently not missing the reaction of his companions to Sasukes' appearance.

"Sasuke Uchiha used to be our classmate." Shikamaru answered his query.

"Uchiha huh?" Sasuke could see the dots connecting in the blonde's eyes. "Well I guess I'm the only one who needs to be introduced then." The blonde said, "I'm.."

"Not interested." Sasuke interrupted him. Seriously did this guy ever shut up? He was beginning to give him a headache.

The blonde paused mid-sentence studying Sasuke wearing a thoroughly confused expression and his hand extended in an offer of a handshake, before he turned to Sakura.

"Gee, he is a dick isn't he?" He said matter-of-factly.

Sakura who still seemed to be recovering from Sasuke's sudden appearance belatedly realized she was the one Naruto was addressing.

"What?" She asked dazedly.

"Look I don't know what your deal is." Sasuke said irritably, "I am here to see Kakashi Hatake, so it will be better if we can ignore each other till he gets here."

He didn't like the sparkle that entered the blonde's eyes at those words. He liked what he said next even less.

"Well, so are we." He said, "At least me and Shikamaru are. What about you…" He added as an afterthought addressing Sakura.

Sakura for the first time realized she didn't know who her jounin commander was supposed to be? She had been told to be here and like a good soldier she was. She had absolutely no idea who they were. She doubted though that she'd be on team with these guys, not if what Naruto was saying was true anyway. A regular team consisted of three shinobi. The boys were here to meet the same jounin, that left her as the odd-one out.

Maybe she was waiting in the wrong place.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to meet my new team here."

"Tch… Whatever." Sasuke was beginning to lose interest as he turned to put some distance between him and the others, "Don't bother me till he gets here then, and you better brace yourself, we will be waiting a while."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru asked a little mystified.

But Sasuke had said all he wanted to say, and moved himself away from the others, to stand and lean on one of the training posts doing his best to ignore them.

"That guy was your classmate? What a douche!" Naruto remarked.

"After 'that' incident, he became an arrogant anti-social jerk." Shikamaru explained.

"What was he like before?"

"…An arrogant anti-social jerk."

"Figures."

"Give him a break okay." Sakura said impatiently coming to Sasuke's defense.

Shikamaru glared at Sakura for a wanting to give her a piece of his mind, before deciding it wasn't worth the trouble he would be subjecting himself to. He simply lay back down placing an arm over his eyes.

"Wake me up when he gets here."

Naruto and Sakura stood around a little awkwardly in the silence, before Sakura decided to squat down on the field, Naruto soon imitating her.

"I haven't caught your name yet."

"Sakura Haruno." She answered the blonde, in the hopes it will shut him up.

"Haruno?" Naruto mused, "Any relation to Kizashi Haruno?"

"How do you know my father?" Sakura asked despite herself.

"He led a bunch of us during the invasion to defend the Southern Sector." He said good-naturedly waving his hands, "I remember seeing him fight and wishing I could do half the things he did."

Sakura remembered. Her father had received a glowing commendation from the Jounin Commander himself for his exemplary conduct during the invasion. His actions had prevented the reinforcements of the enemy from getting to the centre of the village something which later proved decisive in turning the tide against them. What made it even more impressive was that he had made that stand against an enemy, which outnumbered his forces of mostly genin by six to one.

"Why aren't you wearing your chunin vest?" She changed the subject, as proud as she was of her father, he was a topic she would rather avoid.

"The Hokage is holding it for me, eagerly awaiting the day I can take it off of her hands." Naruto said.

Sakura felt like kicking herself. In trying to get the conversation out of awkward waters, she had probably made things worse, because despite the blonde's joking tone, she could hear the hint of bitterness coloring it.

"So you're a medic huh?" He said, pointing to the insignia of a slug just over the official Konoha symbol which endorsed the back of her chunin-vest.

"Yeah." Sakura said off-handedly, "What about it?"

"That's really cool."

Her expression softened. Being a medic was something Sakura was really proud of. One of the first things Tsunade had done on being appointed as Hokage, was revive the dwindling state of Konoha's Medical Program. Within six months of her arrival, she had overhauled the entire system. The results were for everyone to see. Konoha now had one medic-nin for every six shinobi. While it was still some way from her goal of one for every four, it was way better than the one in thirteen ratio that was prevalent when she had taken up the mantle. The symbol of the slug was worn with pride by the members of the medical corps.

"Wow. So you must be some sort of genius huh?"

Sakura tried to listen for any trace of condescension or jealousy in his voice. She found none. Despite the sort of weird beginning, she had to admit she was beginning to enjoy his company. This wasn't the first time someone had praised her or gushed about her, but it had always been done mostly out of politeness or professional courtesy. Then there were those who were all smiles while congratulating her on her achievements while poorly concealing their envy. Very rarely had she encountered the sincerity that Naruto was displaying.

This was also the first time since her ill-fated mission when someone wasn't trying to treat her like a delicate sculpture.

"Well…" She said trying to be as modest as she could, when they were interrupted again.

"At least two of you are trying to bond."

The high-pitched squeal of surprise she heard she'd later learn had come from her. But what amazed her was Naruto's reaction, who was now perched atop a training post, with his kunai drawn, even Shikamaru had jerked awake with a start and Sasuke just glared balefully at the newest presence.

"You're late Kakashi." Naruto dismounted from the post as he addressed the new arrival, "Thought this was supposed to be important."

"Hmmm….. am I now? Lost track." The man seemed totally unaffected by the chaos he had caused, merely turning a page of the paperback he was perusing.

'So this is Kakashi' Sakura thought to herself, after getting her heart-rate to somewhat normal levels.

She had never felt so… underwhelmed. She knew him by sight, almost everyone in the village did and so did most of the shinobi world. But then with his trademark silver hair and the Konoha headband over one eye, not to mention the mask he did stand-out.

"Well." The man shut the book and pocketed it, "I see everyone is here."

"And then some." Sasuke said still glaring at the jounin.

Sakura realized that the comment was directed at her and shot him an irritated look. She tried to defend the guy but he always made it so hard.

"Now now Sasuke that's hardly the way to talk about your new comrades." Kakashi said placatingly.

"What are you playing at Kakashi?" Sasuke folded his arms, turning his full attention to the jounin, "A standard cell consists of four members, there are five of us here, so unless you're telling me that two of these losers actually combine to have the competence of one, I am getting out of here."

"Empty threats Sasuke." The jounin's voice retained its usual casual tenor, but Sakura suddenly felt the temperature drop a couple of degrees, "You'll be here for as long as I want you to be."

Sasuke's didn't relax his aggressive stance, but kept his mouth shut. Even Naruto seemed to be affected as he shifted his weight uneasily on the balls of his feet.

The five of them stood in tense silence, following Kakashi's declaration in a stand-off of sorts.

"So, let's commence what we are here for shall we?" Kakashi said cheerfully, "As of today you guys are now part of Team 7."

"…"

"You're kidding."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Kakashi responded to Sasuke's comment, "No, I'm not. Starting Monday we embark on missions under the direct authority of the Hokage."

"So what are we supposed to do for the rest of the day?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"That's up to you." Kakashi replied pulling out his book.

"That's it?" Sakura voiced her own thoughts.

"Yup." Came the reply, "Move along now, and assemble at the Mission Desk on Monday, 8 AM sharp."

More than a little confused Sakura tentatively turned around, to follow the jounin's command, Sasuke had already made himself scarce and was nowhere in sight now, even Shikamaru was trudging out, but Naruto remained rooted to the spot glaring at the jounin or rather at what he was reading.

"Is that Icha-Icha Battle series Vol. 7?" He questioned him.

"Why yes it is." The man seemed pleasantly surprised, "You're a fan I take it."

"Quite the opposite in fact." Naruto said, "I happen to know its trashy smut."

"Do you now?" Kakashi said absent-mindedly, losing his interest in the conversation now that he knew Naruto wasn't a fan, "I'm assuming your low opinion of it didn't stop you from actually reading it."

"Oh I didn't read it." Naruto assured the jounin before walking away and muttering under his breath making sure the he couldn't listen to what he had to say next, "I wrote it."

XXXXX

Shikamaru was making his way home after being dismissed, going over the events of the day. It had been unexpected to say the least. Years after his greatest failure as a shinobi he was now made a part of the greatest team Konoha had produced? While the composition of the team didn't inspire much confidence, the fact that it was happening at all said a lot.

Just what was going on in here? Nothing seemed to make sense.

"Don't mind if I join you do you?"He turned to the source of the voice to see their team leader joining him, his nose buried in his book.

"It's a free country." Shikamaru shrugged. "What's on your mind Kakashi-san?"

"A lot of things Nara-san. A lot of things." He replied, "But only one which relates to you. It's about time you made up your mind isn't it?"

"I'd just like to know a little more of what I am getting into, before I make a decision." Shikamaru didn't bother denying him knowing what Kakashi was talking about.

"Shinobi don't have that luxury."

"It's a good thing that I'm not a shinobi then isn't it?"

"Yet." Kakashi said.

"Yet." He agreed.

Kakashi stopped and so did Shikamaru. Both men faced each other in a showdown of sorts.

"Why don't you come with me Nara-san?" He said, "There is something I'd like to show you."

Shikamaru weighed the jounin's words. This wasn't a command. Not even a concealed one. It was a genuine request. He realized what the man was doing. If it had been an order Shikamaru could have refused, probably would have too. But a request on the other hand played on his curiosity. So with that knowledge in hand he did what he knew he should do.

It was still his choice after all.

"Lead the way." He told the man.

XXXXX

Shikamaru stared at the pile of boxes in front of him, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi, wondering what this was about. They were currently at the Hokage Tower or to be precise at the mission desk. The place housed fifty chunins at any given time, working tirelessly to classify missions based on their importance and threat-level.

Kakashi had requested a work-station and rallied some instructions to one of them and was promptly assigned one. It wasn't long before the same chunin came bearing three boxes stacked on top of each other filled with files and dumped them on the table. The man could barely see over the stacks and the heavy thump the boxes made on the table was indicative of their rather impressive weight.

"What is this?" Shikamaru asked the jounin

"Every month, Konoha receives hundreds of missions between the ranks of B and C." Kakashi opened the lid of one of the boxes and studied the contents, "Statistically almost five percent of these missions are misclassified, something which should interest you given your history."

Shikamaru kept his mouth shut, despite the jounin's blunt manner of speaking and let him continue.

"The reasons for these errors range from clerical mistakes to misinformation by the clients themselves." He elaborated, "It won't be wrong to say, that because of these errors we have lost a lot of good shinobi on the field not to mention the strain it puts on our resources."

"Now we can't go on and penalize the clients, doesn't make us look good, we do what we can to make sure to minimize them at the mission desk, but we haven't had much success." Kakashi flicked through one of the files before replacing it and reaching for another one.

"Hokage-sama wants to work out a system where this doesn't remain a problem." He folded his arms and met Shikamaru's eyes, "Which is where you come in."

"Why now?" Shikamaru questioned the jounin, "If it has been that big a problem, why hasn't anything been done yet?"

"It's being done now." Kakashi said, "What you've to understand is why this problem has flown under the radar. These low-ranked mission are taken up by low-ranked shinobi, manly genin or chunin."

"Who aren't all that important to the big picture." Shikamaru failed to keep the bitterness out of his voice, "Yeah I get it. Who cares if a few grunts lose their lives because of carelessness on the desk of a glorified clerk?"

"Regardless." Kakashi continued, ignoring his last comment, "The losses are something the Hokage feels could and should be avoided."

"So you want me to devise a system to weed out these potential death-traps." Shikamaru said following the thread of the conversation.

"Yes and no." Kakashi said, "Yes we want to filter them but we can't reject them either.."

"Doesn't make us look good with the clients." Shikamaru interrupted, "I know."

"The missions which you filter out, will be then handed to a team which is equipped to handle them." Kakashi concluded.

"In this case I am guessing its Team 7?"

"That's right."

"Why Team 7 though?" Shikamaru asked the man.

"What do you mean?"

"You could have christened us Team 47 and achieved the same results." He said, "So, why Team 7?"

"If its under the direct authority of the Hokage, its less likely to be influenced by other forces." Kakashi shrugged, "Won't you agree Nara-san?"

"So let me get this straight." Shikamaru took a deep breath, that explanation on its face sounded good enough, but he was done taking things at face-value, he decided to press forward with a different concern though, "You want me to devise a way to sieve through mis-classified missions, to prevent unnecessary field casualties only for them to be taken by a team which consists of my acquaintances?"

He wanted to say friends, but Naruto was the closest thing he had to one in this team. While he cared little about Sakura and not a damn about Sasuke, still they were people he knew.

"That's exactly what I want you to do."

"How is one team expected to handle all these missions?" Shikamaru prodded, "If what you're saying is true, you will need more than one squad."

"I'm not saying its perfect." Kakashi admitted, "But this is just the start. If we succeed, we will expand."

"In that case." He sighed, "I am going to say no."

"I'd beg you to reconsider."

"There is nothing to reconsider." Shikamaru said, "I won't have another death on my conscience. So thanks Kakashi-san, but no thanks."

"On the contrary Nara-san." Kakashi said, freezing Shikamaru in his place as he had started to walk away, "If you walk away now, you'd be responsible for every death which results from your inaction."

"How dare you?" Shikamaru hissed venomously turning around to face him.

"I dare, because few are gifted with the ability to change things and even fewer are afforded the opportunity to do so. You've been given both but you're walking away because you're too much of a coward to take any responsibility." Kakashi refused to back down. "You want to make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else? This is your chance."

Shikamaru had never been so angry in his life, he clenched his fist hard enough for his nails to break skin using the pain to control himself.

"I'm done here." Shikamaru said coldly before turning around and storming out of the tower leaving the chunin around baffled.

Kakashi watched the chunin walk away, thoroughly satisfied with the results of that encounter. What came next would be a less pleasant experience by far.

Reporting to the Hokage.

XXXXXX

"So he walked away."

"He did."

"You knew he would."

"I was counting on it."

Tsunade Senju, rubbed her forehead with her fingers trying to abate the headache building up behind her temples. This man was the best she had and one of the only ones she could trust. She considered herself a fairly straightforward person, and Kakashi's games got too much sometimes even for her.

"Enlighten me Kakashi." She said bitingly, "How is that a good thing?"

Kakashi's posture was slouched and his manner lazy and languid. To a casual observer he wouldn't appear to be anything but relaxed. The absence of his favorite book however was a tell-tale sign of how seriously he was taking it.

"He wouldn't be worth the effort if he didn't. He even saw through things I wasn't expecting him to." Seeing the signs of danger on his boss' face he continued hurriedly, "Regardless he will be back of that I'm sure."

"I gave you a long leash on this one Hatake." Tsunade stated, "Even overlooked the fact that you broke protocol by telling a civilian the details of a sensitive operation, something which should have had you court-marshaled mind you, so you better be right about this, because if he doesn't it will be on your head."

"Trust me on this Hokage-sama. If this venture of yours is to succeed we will need him." The man told her, "Moreover, knowing what he does now, he won't be able to walk away from this. No, I'm not worried about Shikamaru, the rest however I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?" The jounin's statement caught her completely off-guard.

"Well… how do I put this delicately?" Kakashi mused out loud, "The way Team-7 is right now, they are about as functional as a defective explosive tag."

Location: ANBU HQ (Special Ops Division)

Time: 4:30 PM

A heavily bandaged one armed and one-eyed man sat behind a rather imposing but simple desk. The room was dark without a window. The only source of light was a dim light bulb hanging overhead. Just how he preferred it. 'The Roots after all had no use for the sun', he mused sardonically while intently studying the files as one of his subordinates crouched in a gesture of supplication on one knee with his head bowed.

He had been in that position for over ten minutes now. The man however paid little attention to the plight of his subordinate. He had bigger worries at the moment.

Tsunade had made her move it seemed.

"Monitor the situation closely." He told his crouched minion, "And keep me abreast of any new developments."

"Hai, Danzo-sama." The man intoned as he got to his feet and dismissed himself.

There you have it. All done. Hope it lived up to expectations. If not feel free to tear into it. And thanks for all the feedback for the previous chapters. They've been helpful. Signing off with the Character profile of Sakura.

Until next time

Character Profile

Sakura Haruno

Affiliation: Konoha

Registration ID: 0828

Rank: Chunin(Medic)

Teams: Team-15(formerly), Border Patrol Squad, Team-7 (Currently)

Bio: Sakura is the daughter of veteran shinobi Kizashi Haruno. Her potential was visible to her instructors from her Academy days itself. It was later validated when she graduated as the Kunoichi of the year. Showed great aptitude in the field of genjutsu, before finding her true calling as a Medic-nin. Believed to be one of the brightest of her generation, she caught the eye of Tsunade Senju herself.


	4. Contemplations

Contemplations

"So now you're on the same team as Sasuke?" Her blonde best friend stated dubiously, as if trying to process what she'd been told, "Not to mention Shikamaru too?"

Sakura nodded smirking mischievously, sipping her drink enjoying the look on Ino's face, despite herself. Both of them had nurtured a crush on Sasuke during their Academy days along with half the girls in their batch. They even had developed something of rivalry over the Uchiha's affections. It had crushed them both when he hadn't ended up in their teams, and chose to take cold comfort in the fact that at least the other didn't get the proximity to the handsome boy they both craved.

Until now.

"So what is he like these days?" Ino leaned forward interest shining in her eyes.

"Taller, lethal." Sakura said, "And better looking than ever."

"C'mon." Ino whined, "More details girl."

It was Friday evening of the day of Sakura's first team meeting to be precise. She had backed out of Ino's planned girl's night out the other day citing the excuse of an early morning team meeting, (which eventually turned into a noon rendezvous thanks to the late arrival of their Jounin leader). This was her way of making it up to her.

The place was an outdoor café opened quite recently. The two kunoichi were seated on the roof which offered a pristine view of the village market. They chatted animatedly for a while, talking about their Academy days, old crushes (mainly Sasuke) and the life after in general. It was sobering how things had changed. There was a time when the very mention of Sasuke in their presence was like striking a match in a gas-filled room, now it was merely a part of their innocent if somewhat immature past.

"When was the last time you spoke to Shikamaru?" Sakura asked her.

"Only once after he got discharged." Ino sighed the cheerful mood of their meeting turning somewhat sour at the mention of her estranged teammate, "That wasn't a pleasant encounter and I didn't seek him out afterwards." Ino paused a little bit of uncertainty coloring her tone as she spoke again, "How is he?"

"Not bad all things considered." Sakura leaned back on her chair, "He is the same, lazy and languid guy we knew back in the day. By the way do you know anyone by the name of Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Can't say I do."

"Spiky blonde, blue-eyes, loud orange clothes." Sakura described him, "Whiskers on face? If I didn't know better I'd say he was related to you."

"No Yamanaka would be caught dead in orange." Ino rolled her eyes, "Anything you want to confess Sakura?"

It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes at the hidden implication in Ino's teasing voice. It was time to nip it in the bud, before it got hold of her.

"Nothing like that." Sakura said, "He is just another member assigned to my team."

"Wait." Realization dawned on Ino's pretty features and this new info distracted her from teasing her friend, "You're a five-member cell, how does that work?"

Sakura knew this was coming. While teams of five or more weren't unusual, they were only used temporarily for higher ranked missions or missions requiring greater manpower like border-patrols or merchant convoy escorts, but never as permanent cells.

"I don't know Ino." Sakura admitted before trying to get the conversation back on track, "But that wasn't what I was talking about."

"Then what were you talking about?"

"He was on the mission with Shikamaru." She said, "You know which one I am talking about."

To say that the aftermath of that mission had been devastating would be an understatement. Not only to Shikamaru, but personally to Sakura, and even more so to Ino. Frankly she could understand him falling off the grid afterwards. But they had recovered, Shikamaru obviously hadn't yet.

"Yeah I remember." Understanding dawned on her face followed immediately by anger, "But he wasn't kicked off the force was he?"

Sakura was a little taken aback by the venom in Ino's voice. She probably didn't appreciate the fact that Shikamaru was the only one who bore the consequences of that failed mission. Part of Sakura could understand her frustration but she didn't believe it was Naruto's fault and blaming him for not being punished was petty.

Except that probably wasn't true. He was stuck as a genin when most shinobi his age had at the very least attained the rank of chunin. But she kept those thoughts to herself, not really wanting to antagonize Ino over a guy she barely knew despite not agreeing with her.

"Well he has been reinstated." Sakura tried to draw Ino's attention to that fact, "So, there's that at least."

"I suppose you're right." Ino muttered gloomily.

The conversation soon drifted to more mundane topics after this. But Ino's mood had obviously been spoiled and it didn't take long for the two kunoichi to say goodbyes and go their different ways.

Sakura struggled with herself for a moment before making up her mind.

Sakura followed the street which took her away from her home instead of towards it, fingering the piece of paper Inoichi had handed her during their last session. She had never been to that particular sector of the village, but from the looks of it, it was located in one of the better off neighborhoods of the village, probably the merchant class. Little kids laughing hysterically as they chased each other down the streets lining quaint little houses and painted picket fences.

It was the pleasant kind of place where people bought homes and raised families.

She wondered why'd Inoichi want to send her here? She stopped in front of the house she was supposed to go. It looked exactly the same as the rest in the colony. For a second she wondered if she was in the wrong place. A quick look at her watch told her that it was more than half-past five.

She was late.

She raised her hand to knock on the door to announce her presence. Her hand was only inches away from the door when her hand almost involuntarily clenched itself into a fist, following which it slowly dropped by her side. As she walked away only one thought resonated in her mind.

She wasn't ready.

Not yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Naruto shouted as he hastily threw on a pair of black shorts and an old-white t-shirt he had outgrown a couple of years ago. The knocking on his apartment door was only getting more insistent and impatient.

He'd been in the shower for crying out loud, which was a little unusual for him. By now he should have been out of the apartment and at the mission desk taking his pick of D-ranks. But recent events had led to some rather welcome developments as starting next week he'd be part of a team and eligible for the higher tier of and better paying missions.

So for the first time since his Academy days he had actually allowed himself to sleep in, ordered his breakfast from the place down the street and was in the middle of a shower when his morning was disturbed by a series of rather loud knocks, which if he didn't know better could be mistaken for the Konoha Military Police trying to apprehend a suspect by breaking down the door.

It was strange as he wasn't expecting any visitors. His bills were paid, mostly anyway and….. well no that was it. It was sad that the only people he dealt with any regularity in his life were people he owed money to.

Planting an irritated scowl on his face, he wrenched open the door.

"What?" He demanded, "In the name of kami…. Miyuki?"

The girl was frozen in the motion of knocking when he had opened the door almost losing her balance due to the lack of resistance she had been expecting by the locked door, nearly stumbling into Naruto.

"Sempai." She gasped, regaining her balance and avoiding a rather embarrassing situation, "Hey."

"Miyuki." Naruto said, recovering from seeing his rather unexpected visitor, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." She replied, "Is this a bad time?"

Naruto wasn't sure how to answer that. The timing wasn't so much bad as it was unexpected. He hadn't even gotten to towel himself properly. His shirt clung to his wet back and his hair was dripping water on the floor. The girl stood patiently if a little nervously waiting for him to speak.

"No, this isn't a bad time." Naruto moved away and opened the door wider to allow the girl in after running through a mental checklist to make sure his house was presentable enough to receive a guest, "Sorry about that."

Thank goodness he had cleaned his apartment just a couple of days ago so that now it resembled a neglected storage room instead of the toxic dumpsite it used to barely a week ago. He directed her towards one of the only two chairs in his house while taking the couch.

"So." He said once both of them were seated, "How did you know where I lived?"

"Iruka sensei told me." The girl explained and Naruto swore inwardly. He had completely forgotten about the plans he'd made with the man. "I was hoping to run into you at the mission desk, but you weren't there so I asked him where I could find you and he gave me your address."

"Well." Naruto conceded as he got to his feet and went into his small kitchen to fetch some glasses, "You found me. Soda or juice? I'm afraid I'm out of tea." That was a lie, he never kept tea in his house, but she didn't need to know that.

"I'll have the juice."

"Apple or orange?"

"Orange please."

Naruto handed her a glass and poured some for himself, taking a generous sip, at least it hadn't gone bad yet, before sitting back again.

"Where's your team?" He inquired.

"Sensei gave us the weekend off after our last C-rank." Miyuki replied, nestling the drink between her hands.

Naruto raised an eyebrow trying to figure out why she was in his apartment, but couldn't bring himself to pose the question without sounding rude so he just waited. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze and gulped some juice as if trying to steel herself, which was when he realized how nervous the girl really was.

"Wouldyouwanttotrainwithme?"

"What?"

Miyuki's face reddened with embarrassment before she took a deep breath to calm herself. Naruto wasn't sure how much it helped, but her next words were coherent enough.

"Would you want to train with me?"

"Today?" He enquired.

Miyuki nodded enthusiastically. He considered it. He really didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day and it had been a long time since he had a training partner, and it wouldn't be a bad way to spend the day to be honest. He couldn't say no to that expectant face anyway and he'd probably drive himself crazy trying to find something to do for the rest of the day anyway.

"Sure why not." He decided, "Just let me go get changed."

He leaned casually against the tree keeping a mental countdown in his head.

"3…2…1" He ducked and the place where his head had been a fraction of a second ago was peppered with kunai. Crouching low he tracked the blur running among the tree. He followed suit, batting away a few kunai sent his way to arrest his movement, by his retreating adversary with one of his own. She tried to retreat deeper into the forest but he wasn't going to allow that and kept cutting her off. She soon realized that she didn't have a choice and now ran towards the open area of the ground, probably hoping that by getting their first she could gain some advantage.

Just as he knew she would.

He followed close on her heels keeping her in sights this time. She had just entered the ground and then in a surprising maneuver turned around and let go several kunai. His eyes widened, they were coming at him a lot faster than he anticipated. His body was peppered with kunai, a lot of them, right before he turned into a log, indicating a successful substitution.

She swore as she realized the trouble she was in and tried to move away but it was too late. He didn't give her a chance to recover and in a burst of speed he moved behind her. She still somehow managed to turn around to block his strike with her kunai. But the force behind the blow caught her off-guard and she lost her balance, a leg sweep to drop her followed by a choke-hold was all it took to incapacitate her completely. Her face turned an interesting shade of blue, but she managed to tap on his arm conveying her surrender, he let her loose and she immediately collapsed on all fours coughing and gasping.

"That's it." He instructed her rubbing her back, "Slow and shallow breaths."

Leaving her there to recover Naruto walked to one of the training posts where he had left some of his gear. Fishing out a couple of water bottles, he tossed one of them to the still panting girl, who caught it effortlessly.

"That was really good you've gotten better." Naruto praised the girl between sips, "You nearly got me with your last trick."

"Really?" Miyuki gasped, still recovering from her exertions as he uncapped her own bottle, "You think so?"

Naruto had been impressed. She had managed to catch him off-guard, with her last trick involving kunai and ninja wire. It was a simple enough trick, she had anticipated him following her and had managed to use the ninja-wire between two training-posts as a makeshift-bow. Only a quick substitution saved him from being shish-kebabed.

"Indeed." Naruto joined her on the ground next to her, "There is not much you did wrong there. You kept yourself hidden well took your chances and tried to use the battlefield to your advantage, hell you might have won if your team had been with you."

Miyuki blushed with pleasure and embarrassment at his praise and took another big gulp of water to have something to do.

"How did you get this good?" She asked him.

"Frankly speaking, I'm not sure if I'm quite as good as you think I am." Naruto laughed at the reverent tone in the girl's voice, "But I suppose it has something to do with surviving against foes much better than I was."

"Can we do this again?" She said tentatively, "I mean I learnt a lot today."

Naruto stayed silent for a while as he tried to process what he had just heard. This was certainly a first. Someone actually wanting his help because they thought he was better than them.

"It's okay if you can't." She began mistaking his silence for reluctance.

"No, no, it's not that." Naruto said hastily trying to clear the confusion, "It's just that you caught me by surprise with that request."

"So?" Miyuki said a confused frown on her face, "So can we?"

"Yeah, sure why not?" Naruto smiled at her and the girl's expression brightened.

"So, how about Monday?" She spoke enthusiastically, "I'll be running D-ranks with my team the whole day but I'm quite sure I will be free by evening."

"I'm afraid I can't on Monday." Naruto said, "I got assigned a team and we start on Monday."

"Oh…" She sounded disappointed before brightening up again as her mind caught up to what he had just said, "Oh, congratulations on that."

Naruto laughed patting her head, before getting up and dusting his pants. He considered something for a while. The day didn't have to end just because they were done training. Moreover he hadn't even gotten the chance to celebrate his good fortune yet and Miyuki was good if a little awkward company.

"Come on." He offered the still seated girl his hand, "Lunch is on me."

The girl took the proffered hand gratefully and pulled herself to her feet.

"You're really good with those weapons." Naruto said as both of them walked out of the training ground.

"Thanks." The girl said proudly, "I had the highest marks in the Academy when it came to accuracy and ranged weapons."

"Hmmm…" Naruto muttered thoughtfully an idea planting itself in his head, "You know I just might know someone who can help you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto made his way to the best weapon retailer in Konoha. He had just said his farewell to Miyuki and there was just one last thing he needed to do before he wrapped up his day. It was something he was planning on getting done tomorrow, but as he was out he thought it best to get it out of the way.

It wasn't an old establishment by any means. Naruto still remembered the day it had opened eight years ago. Back then it had been a little more than a shack. The first owner had been a civilian and understood little of the shinobi needs. Needless to say it wasn't long before he went out of business sold the place and migrated out of Konoha. For a few months the place had no takers. There was even talk of it being taken over by the establishment.

But before any of that could happen a retired shinobi took it upon himself to overturn the fortunes of the place. The man had been forced to retire early due to a mission gone bad which resulted in loss of sixty percent functionality in one of his legs. Thankfully he had his skills as a blacksmith to fall back on.

So with the money he received along with a few loans he bought the place and turned it into a weapons/smithy workshop.

There were now two sections to the shop. The front section served as the shop, while the space at the back was where the smithy was. Even as he entered the shop he could hear the heaving of bellows and the sounds of metals striking metal.

He was the only occupant of the shop at the moment as even the usual person minding the shop was missing. He was sure that won't last though. The bell which announced his arrival as he opened the door would ensure that.

He took the chance to browse through some of the wares. A particularly vicious looking chokuto caught his eye.

It was a beautiful thing. A hand and a half in length, it looked delightfully deadly. He walked closer to examine it more closely and was about to remove it from his stand before a dry and condescending voice stopped him.

"You can't afford that."

"And how would you know?"

"Because it costs more than the building your lousy apartment is in."

"Gee… Way to be a buzzkill Tenten." Naruto turned around to be greeted with the scowling face of a girl dressed in a black trousers and a shirt whose original color was now a mystery, her hair tied back by a yellow bandanna. The scowl on her face was more a result of her helping her father in the smithy rather than her displeasure at seeing him.

Or at least he hoped so.

"Someone's got to keep your dreamy ass grounded before you break something that will force you into the streets." She said, "If you break it you bought it."

"If I do manage to break it, then it probably isn't worth buying now is it?" Naruto retorted.

Tenten just shrugged.

Tenten was someone Naruto had known almost as long as he could remember. She was a year older than him. Both of them were orphans who had been housed in the same orphanage. They had even struck up something of a friendship back in the day despite the matron's active attempts to dissuade her. But like most good things in his life this didn't last either. Before long she was adopted and they lost contact.

Naruto was heartbroken as he never even got to say goodbye to her. A few years later they did meet in the Academy, but by then things had changed. She had her own friends and parents and couldn't obviously be bothered with a kid she had sort of known as an orphan, a relatively more tragic period in her life.

He didn't blame her.

"So what can I do for you?" Her voice turning professional now that the fun and games were done. Naruto emptied the bag he carried with him on the counter, creating a huge racket as damaged kunai and shuriken littered on it. Shuriken and kunai weren't exactly expensive but it was always cheaper to get them repaired than to buy new ones.

"You'll get them by the day after tomorrow."Tenten said as she examined some of them.

"Can't you get them done sooner?"

"Can't do." Tenten picked up a particularly damaged shuriken missing two of its teeth before tossing it into the recyclable waste dump without giving it a second look. "Dad's busy with a commission and I got my own missions."

Naruto sighed in disappointment. It looked like he'd have to buy the stuff this time around.

"So, should I get your usual order?" Tenten inquired after going through his inventory.

"I wish." Naruto winced as he contemplated the dent this was going to make on his savings. Hopefully the improved pay would help things. "I need thrice my usual order."

"Not planning on declaring war on Konoha are you?" She deadpanned.

"Haha." Naruto laughed dryly, "You're funny but no. But I've been assigned a team and going to take our first mission on Monday."

Tenten whistled appreciatively as she started on his order, piling on kunai and shuriken along with ninja-wire and other knick-knacks.

"So that would be three thousand two hundred and fifty three ryo." She said tallying up the cost.

"C'mon there has to be some sort of discount on bulk purchases." Naruto protested at the price. The price was perfectly reasonable but it wouldn't be a sale if he didn't at least try to haggle.

Tenten wasn't impressed, she was used to his antics by now, being one of their regular customers and didn't even break her stride.

"I'll knock off the three ryo off the top to make it all even." She offered, "How about that?"

Naruto grumbled theatrically as he counted the money and handed it to the girl, who didn't even bother counting it before throwing it inside the cash register.

"Anything else?" She said a little puzzled when Naruto still hadn't moved out of the shop.

"There is actually." Naruto shuffled on his feet uncomfortably knowing what he was about to ask next might not exactly be to the girls' taste. "Remember the favor you said you owed me?"

"Yeah." Tenten said just the tiniest hint of dread entering her voice.

"Well I want to cash it in."

Tenten folded her arms expectantly as Naruto struggled with the words to best put forward his request.

"There is this genin, Miyuki." He said, "She is something of a long-range specialist, kind of like you."

"No." Tenten said flatly.

"No?" Naruto was nonplussed, "You didn't even listen to what I have to say."

"You want to impress a girl you're on your own buster." She said, "No way am I getting involved in this."

"First of all she is just twelve….so eugh!" Naruto said, "Secondly how the hell did you even make that leap? You know what, don't answer that. I am not trying to date her, I was just hoping you could give her some pointers."

Naruto made sure she couldn't interrupt her again as he laid down the entire thing in front of her.

"You want me to help a rookie? That's almost worse" Tenten turned around looking ready to escort him out of the shop, physically if she had to, "Yeah sorry but I don't have the time to baby-sit, I did enough of that when I was a genin thank you."

"You owe me." Naruto said pre-empting her and putting some distance between them before she could reach him.

"Naruto?" She gave an exasperated sigh, "C'mon I'm sure we can work something else out, and what's in it for you anyway?"

"Are you going to do it or not?" Naruto stared down the girl, not budging. The two teens glaring at each other, neither willing to back down.

"Fine." She finally conceded, "I'll do it. But we are even after this. Who's her Jounin sensei?"

Five minutes later Naruto was walking out of the shop, content with how his day had gone.

"She better be worth it Uzumaki." Tenten got a pot-shot at him before he walked out of hearing range. Naruto merely chuckled as he made his way home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shikamaru knocked three times on the door of the apartment and waited for the occupant to open it. It was a nice neighborhood. Not too affluent but not poor either, if a little congested. He hadn't been here in three weeks and probably wouldn't have come today either, but recent events sort of demanded it. He felt a little bad about that. Just another person in his life he felt he was failing. Nothing new in that. But there was a problem with having set yourself low standards, you tend to disappoint people.

For a long time he had been okay with that too.

He didn't get a chance to immerse himself too deeply in his misery as the door opened to reveal a pretty if tired looking woman dark-haired woman, dressed in a red apron.

"Shikamaru." A smile broke on her face at seeing her visitor, "I was sure you'd forgotten the way to my home."

"Kurenai-sensei." He greeted the woman as she allowed him to walk in. The house was in a state of ordered chaos, a sign of what the day promised to be. A cry of recognition dragged his attention to a toddler on the floor accompanied by a myriad of stuffed toys. The baby gave him a toothy grin and waved her arms to get his attention and Shikamaru couldn't help returning her smile with one of his own, before crouching down and picking her up.

The baby squealed with joy as he cajoled her and made those baby noises adults did when confronted with a cute baby.

"You should come by more often you know." Kurenai smirked at the camaraderie her daughter shared with the boy, "She missed you."

"I'll try." Shikamaru said non-commitally. Kurenai didn't call him out on it one of the reasons he found her company a lot more bearable than almost anyone else, she simply watched contentedly as Shikamaru bounced her baby on his lap.

"Would you like some tea?" Kurenai moved to the kitchen and set to work.

"Sure." Shikamaru managed, as he kept the toddler entertained who was now pulling at his cheeks with surprising strength.

Kurenai Yuuhi had been in a relationship with his late sensei. Not someone he had known personally and not how he had known her. At least not at the beginning anyway. To him she had been the lady who had been assigned a team consisting of people from his batch. Obviously competent to have reached the rank of jounin.

It was Ino who had clued him onto that little fact about her being Asuma's lover. She never missed an opportunity to tease Asuma about it, whenever she got the chance. He hadn't cared much. So Asuma had a girlfriend. Big deal. He was an adult and if he thought he could pursue a successful semi-secretive relationship well more power to him.

To him the situation was more troublesome than it was worth, but hey it wasn't his problem. His first personal interaction with her had been immediately after he was discharged. She had tracked him down to his cloud-watching site. He had braced himself to receive an ass-chewing.

To his great surprise, she just told him that it wasn't his fault and she didn't blame him. Till that moment he hadn't even realized how badly he needed to hear those words, how badly he needed absolution from someone, from anyone. To his shame he had broken down in tears and she held him as he wept on her shoulder.

But even after that moment of bonding what they had could barely be called a casual acquaintance. Part of the reason had been his own decision to break off ties from his old life the other had been her own job and responsibilities as a shinobi serving Konoha.

No, that needed the fuel of another tragedy. He remembered that day like it was yesterday, even though it had been almost a year since. He was in his regular hangout spot at the park, hustling people at shogi, when a chunin beckoned him. He had tried to explain that what he was doing wasn't illegal, but the man had brushed aside his explanations and gave him the dreaded news.

Sarutobi Asuma had killed in action. He felt as if someone had pulled the very ground from his feet. He barely paid attention to the rest of the details. How the team he had been leading was ambushed and how he sacrificed his life to make sure his team got away.

Despite his shock he managed to keep his wits about himself to pose a rather pertinent question. Why was he being told this? He wasn't family and he was no longer Asuma's subordinate. The man had explained that Asuma's final request was for him to break the news to Kurenai.

He had honored his sensei's last wishes. This time it was his turn to hold the woman as she cried on his shoulder. His last few meetings with Asuma made sense. Kurenai had been pregnant with Asuma's child. In his own way during their shogi games Asuma had asked him to take care of his heir, his legacy. Back then he had blown away his sensei's concerns.

Had Asuma foreseen his own death? It wasn't unusual for shinobi to be pragmatic about their survival. Still Shikamaru had never believed Asuma could perish. He had always seemed so invincible. The man had survived a war and a violent and turbulent tenure as a ninja guardsman to the Daimyo, only to be martyred at a lousy B-ranked.

He hated irony.

"So, how are things?" She handed the aromatic beverage as he maneuvered the baby to his non-dominant side to hold the offered cup.

"I've some news." Shikamaru said, "I was offered reinstatement."

Kurenai froze mid-sip, before putting the cup back on the table.

"Way to soften me up kid." Kurenai said sarcastically.

"I don't know how a preamble could have helped." Shikamaru shrugged.

"Wow." She muttered, "I guess congratulations are in order." She smiled at him, "I knew they would one day realize how much they needed someone like you."

"I'm not sure if I want to." He admitted, taking a sip of the tea. It was rather good.

"Why not?"

"Doesn't feel right."

She leaned forward to place a hand on his knee. Despite being uncomfortable at the touch of the beautiful woman he held his composure.

"If this isn't what you want, then don't do it." She said forcing him to look her in the eyes, "But don't let your misplaced guilt hold you back."

Shikamaru broke away from her gaze. They had been over it way too many times before and he didn't want to repeat it.

"Have you thought about joining again?" He asked her trying to change the subject.

"I may have to." Kurenai tickled her daughter under the chin getting a delighted squeal from her, "But Kaya-chan is still so young. Maybe in another year when she is old enough. Asuma's and my savings are holding us up for now."

Shikamaru nodded. He had offered her financial help when she had taken her maternity leave, but she had flatly refused. He didn't bother trying to convince her. It would have been too troublesome. So he found alternative ways to help her.

What she believed was Asuma's trust fund was actually an account set-up by Shikamaru with the help of a few well-wishers, where he made regular deposits of his winnings.

The baby's cries broke him out of his thoughts.

"She must be hungry." She took the baby from Shikamaru's arms, "She's always hungry."

"I guess that's my cue to leave." He said getting to his feet.

"But you just got here." Kurenai protested over her daughter's wails. "If you wait just a bit longer you might even meet Ino-chan."

"I have got somewhere to be." He said, as his inclination to get out of the apartment greater than before now that he knew his ex-teammate was going to be there soon.

"Shikamaru wait." She called out to him and he stopped at the threshold of her apartment, "He would be proud of you no matter what you decide. I hope you know that."

Giving her one last nod of acknowledgement Shikamaru walked away from the woman who was his only link to his sensei and her crying baby.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping, the meadow was lush, green and soft beneath him, somewhere in the distance he could hear the kids playing, their screams of joy and laughter carrying through to him.

Despite all that….. not a single speck of cloud in the entire sky.

"You know I don't know what you see in this." Came the dry voice of his only companion.

"No, one told you to stick around." Shikamaru retorted, "I certainly haven't tied you here have I?"

The man remained silent, and the words that went unsaid couldn't have been louder if they had been screamed through a loudspeaker.

Yes, he was what kept him tied here.

"Don't you have a job or something?" He said trying to cover-up his slip.

"I've taken the day-off." The man said, "They can survive one day without me."

"I'm surprised the Hokage allowed you a leave." Shikamaru remarked, "From what I've heard she is a slave-driver."

"Is that why you haven't filed your papers yet?"

"…"

Shikamaru cursed himself inwardly. Despite the joking tone the question in those words were barely hidden. He had walked straight into that one. He had known this would come up. The man was rather highly placed in the bureaucratic setup of Konoha. There really wasn't much that was kept from him. For all his intellect and foresight he still managed to get himself maneuvered into the pit he had avoided for the better part of forty-five minutes. He could choose to be passive-aggressive about it, but that really wasn't his style.

"Maybe I don't want to file my papers." He said, "Maybe I'm done with this life. Ever considered that?"

"Maybe." The man sighed, "That's a dangerous word kiddo. Its neither here nor there."

"So, what would you have me do?" He said finally conceding his defeat, "Cause I have no idea what I should do."

Shikamaru had never been so frustrated in his life. He was sure he was done being a shinobi, done with his old life, old friends, everything which defined him before that fateful day. Now he was told he could start again, right where he left off. He wasn't sure how he felt about that and to make matters worse there wasn't even the calming influence of clouds to see him through.

"Hell if I know." The man replied in answer to his query, "You might regret going back and you might regret not going back."

"So?" He prodded.

"I guess it all comes down to which regret you would rather live with kid." Came the answer, "That's all I got for you."

"That's…. depressing."

"It is what it is."

Shikamaru contemplated those words. Those words could hardly be called his guide to path-breaking revelations. He hadn't suddenly turned into a new man, or the proverbial butterfly spreading its wings for the first time after having spent its life as an ugly larva.

He still had his doubts. He would always have them.

To his surprise however he realized that he was okay with that…. For now anyway.

He got to his feet, dusting his trousers.

"Leaving already?" The man exclaimed, a little surprised by his abrupt actions.

"Yeah." He said, "It's not a good day for cloud-watching."

"It is not." His companion agreed, getting to his feet himself, "So, what're you going to do now?"

"What do you think old man?." He said, feeling a little more resolute than he did a few minutes ago. "I'm gonna go and choose the regrets I will live with."

Their eyes met and a sort of understanding passed between them and he clapped him once on the shoulder with fraternal pride. Shikamaru scoffed at the gesture, but couldn't suppress his own relief and joy at it.

"You should come see your mother someday." Shikaku told him, "She has been missing you."

"You're just saying that because right now you're the only recipient of her nagging aren't you?"

"Troublesome brat."

The next day, the people in and around the Hokage tower were greeted by the sight of Nara Shikamaru dressed in his Konoha fatigues under his chunin vest making his way to the mission desk.

He paused before crossing the threshold of the entrance, and gave one last look to the cloud-riddled sky before walking in.

"Chunin Nara Shikamaru, reporting for duty." He stated to the official at the desk, submitting his papers.

Five minutes later he was led to the work-station Kakashi had led him to barely thirty six hours ago along with stacks of mission files.

"That's all?" He asked the chunin who helped him carry the boxes to his table.

"Yeah." The man said, "That's it. You're gonna need a lot of coffee if you hope to get through all those in one day."

"Thanks for the tip." He told the man as he ripped open the first box. He better got to work. He had twenty-four hours to pick a mission for Team-7.

 

Character Profile

Naruto Uzumaki

Affiliation: Konoha

Registeration ID: 0641

Rank: Genin, Konoha Ground Trooper

Teams: Team 11*(Formerly), Team 7(current)

Bio: Naruto Uzumaki didn't have the most auspicious start to his shinobi career despite having graduated early at the age of ten on his second attempt, *only to fail his jounin's test, on whose recommendation he was assigned to the Konoha Ground Troops. A position which severely limited his avenues to go far in his career as a shinobi. Not to be deterred by these early setbacks he worked hard to improve his limited skills before catching the eye of Jiraiya the Sannin at the age of twelve who then proceeded to take him as an apprentice. He spent the next few years wandering the elemental nations with his master, honing his skills and being taught the art of counter-intelligence and spycraft. This wasn't to last as Jiraiya himself perished during this time.

His deceptively low-rank coupled with his somewhat eccentric and goofy mannerisms has led many to underestimate the blonde shinobi leading him to prevail against unlikely odds and seemingly superior opponents.


	5. The Missing Damsel I

Sakura felt like she was a genin all over again, back in a four-member cell, led by a jounin sensei. She made her way to the mission desk like she had been told to, not quite sure where she'd meet the rest of the team. The mission desk by itself encompassed the entire ground floor of the Hokage Tower, with countless shinobi active in and around the place. Whether it was the genin lining up for their daily D-ranks or the Jounin submitting their reports after a grueling A-rank, it was a the hub for all official shinobi activity. To say that it was the busiest place in Konoha would be no exaggeration.

She was not looking forward to the task of searching for her team in this chaos.

Fortunately she didn't have to. Before long the rather noticeable figure of the orange clad blonde, Naruto Uzumaki had hailed her and was waving his arms rather wildly to gain her attention. Smiling partly in amusement at his antics and partly in relief at having avoided the rather tedious task she made her way towards him. As she got closer she realized he wasn't alone and she was in fact the last one to get there.

Kakashi and Sasuke were standing side-by side, the older man with one hand in his pocket and another holding up the paperback he was so fond of. Sasuke with his trademark frown on face and crossed arms, a picture of hostility. But Naruto more than made up for any lack of enthusiasm from the other two as he grinned at her.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan." He greeted her.

"Good morning Naruto." She returned his greeting. Normally Sakura would have been offended at the use of someone using such an informal honorific so soon after their first meeting, but it didn't seem like a big deal coming from him. She greeted the Sasuke and Kakashi taking her cue from Naruto, getting a humph and grunt in return. It took some effort to avoid rolling her eyes.

"I'm not late am I?" She asked them knowing full well she wasn't. They were supposed to meet at 8 AM and her watch claimed she was a couple of minutes early.

"Not at all Sakura." Kakashi answered without taking his eyes from his book, "Not at all."

"We're waiting for Shikamaru aren't we?" She guessed.

"Actually Shikamaru has been waiting for you." Came the familiar voice of her one time classmate from behind her, catching her by surprise. She turned around and opened her mouth to speak but was beaten to it by the lazy genius.

"Let's get going shall we?" He said, "I have spent the better part of the last twenty four hours hunched behind a desk sustaining myself on coffee and crackers and no sleep whatsoever, so whatever you have to say can wait."

"Where are we going?" Sasuke asked him, his manner projecting his annoyance at being told what to do by the Nara.

"To get some breakfast." Came the reply, "Cause I am absolutely famished."

Sakura had to say she was impressed at the rate Shikamaru was inhaling onigiri after onigiri with careless abandon. The fact that they came from the cafeteria of the Hokage Tower which is notorious for churning out food as tasteless as their field rations made the feat even more impressive.

During all the time she had known him she had never expected him to be capable of such activity. So much so even Naruto had to comment on it.

"Slow down man." He said watching Shikamaru with some fascination, "You're gonna choke yourself if you don't."

Shikamaru paused and raised an eyebrow at the blonde shinobi, taking the time to gulp down his food before retorting, "Now you know how I feel when I have to watch you going on your ramen binge."

"We're wasting time here." Sasuke said disdainfully, "I thought we were supposed to.."

He paused mid-sentence to catch a scroll thrown at his face courtesy Shikamaru, who then proceeded to go to work on his rolls.

"The next person to throw things at my face, loses their throwing arm" He said threateningly ,directing his at Shikamaru, "And what the hell is this supposed to be?"

"A marriage proposal from one of your fan-girls." Shikamaru washed down the roll with some tea that had accompanied his breakfast before speaking again, "Gee what do you think Uchiha? That's your mission."

Sakura was surprised to see Shikamaru so…. adversarial. He had always been one of those guys who preferred to take the path of least resistance. To see him actively goading Sasuke like that was completely out of character for him. She supposed it had something to do with the lack of sleep that was evident from the bags under his eyes and his general even more than usual exhausted demeanor.

Sasuke opened his mouth to fire off a retort of his own but was stopped by Kakashi who plucked the scroll from his hands and opened it to study the contents.

"You got here early to take our mission?" Sakura asked him, mystified at his enthusiasm for the new job.

"No." He refuted her, "I chose it."

"I don't understand."

"Kakashi will explain." He shrugged, returning to his usual languid self now that he had eaten his fill and sagged in his chair, nibbling at his last rice ball.

"So what are we doing?" Naruto asked the jounin trying to peek into the scroll, "Rescuing a princess? Protecting a warlord? Or is it taking down a bandit camp?"

"Pack enough clothes and rations a couple of weeks worth, and weapons suited for a B-ranked mission." Kakashi ordered them ignoring Naruto, evidently done reading the mission scroll. "Meet me at the gates in fifteen."

"But.." Naruto was about to protest but something in the jounin's demeanor made him change his mind and he just shrugged before leaving. Sakura and Sasuke soon followed his example, leaving Kakashi and Shikamaru the only ones there.

"What?" Shikamaru chose to break the silence that had encompassed them.

"Nothing." Kakashi replied, "I just didn't expect to see you there."

Shikamaru glared at the older man skeptically before snorting in disbelief, "Really now? I expected you to be a better liar Kakashi."

"Well." The jounin admitted, "In my defence I was sure you'd require more convincing at the very least."

"How'd you have convinced me?"

"I'll keep that to myself. You never know when I might need it." Kakashi waved his question away. "Right, so how does this mission fit the parameters that had been set for benchmarking Team 7 missions?"

"Mei Arisawa is the daughter from a fairly well to do merchant family who went missing from her home in the town of Sumer, a few miles from the Kusa border." Shikamaru explained getting a nod from Kakashi in return, "The mission on the paper is simple enough. Finding and retrieving the girl."

"But…." Kakashi prompted.

"She wasn't the first one."

"What do you mean?" Kakashi leaned forward, his interest spiking, "If there were more people who had been reported missing it wouldn't have escaped our attention."

"Well the people who went missing didn't go missing while they were in the land of fire." Shikamaru said, "I did some research. Whoever is behind these disappearances has only been targeting people when they're outside the Fire Nation."

"Merchants and messengers." Kakashi deduced.

"Exactly." Shikamaru said animatedly, exhaustion momentarily forgotten, " Its actually really clever. The Konoha-Kusa border has always been relatively porous to allow greater convenience for trade and commerce. But lack of cooperation between the nations has allowed these people to carry on unchallenged."

"So Konoha hasn't been able to pursue this because we don't have jurisdiction in Kusa and Kusa has had no reason to pursue this as they weren't their citizens." Kakashi commented, "Clever, but what does that have to do with the missing girl?"

"I think if the girl was kidnapped, she'd have been taken in that route." Shikamaru said, "It does look like speculation but this still requires looking into doesn't it?"

"Hmmm. Indeed it does." Kakashi said amiably, "Good work Shikamaru."

"You know when Naruto came to me offering my reinstatement he said he wanted me in the team so that I could watch his back." Shikamaru said.

"And now you're choosing missions for him, which are clearly more dangerous than they look on the surface." Kakashi finished his thought before he could, "Not quite what you were expecting your role to be and yet here you are."

"Indeed." Shikamaru agreed, "I guess I am hoping I don't regret agreeing to do this."

"Have a little faith in me Nara-san." The jounin assured him, but probably realized he wasn't doing a very good job of it continued, "if not me than how about some in your comrades."

"Trust is a commodity which has to be earned Hatake-san." Shikamaru stood up to leave, "What I'm doing is taking a leap of faith into the unknown."

"I'll be in touch." Kakashi grabbed Shikamaru by the arm and slipped something in the pocket of his vest, "Get some sleep."

He felt the man's presence vanish from the vicinity without the need to turn around for visual confirmation. 'What a show off!' He thought to himself. Yawning widely he trudged back slowly to his apartment where his comfortable bed beckoned.

As they left the gates of the village, Sakura's mind couldn't help but flashback to all the lessons she'd learned about Konoha's history during her stint at the academy.

The dense forests surrounding Konoha served multiple purposes. The term 'hidden village' wasn't just a prop used to describe Konoha. They concealed its location from unfriendly forces. The wildlife itself acted as their primary defense. Heaven have pity on the poor soul who runs afoul of the packs of wolves or the tigers that prowled these lands. Though that would be a kinder fate to what would happen if they found themselves in the gigantic spider's lair.

It is still believed that if one went deep enough in the woods they'd find the remnants of Iwa's forces who'd tried to invade Konoha during the Third Shinobi War.

In addition to that it also housed a variety of flora and fauna which by themselves provided for other necessities including but not limited to firewood and herbs for medicinal purposes. Part of the reason Konoha had a thriving pharmaceutical industry was because of the produce derived from these forests. The animals residing here were some of the most vicious and dangerous to be found anywhere in the elemental nations. In short these forests were as much a part of the village's identity as the shinobi themselves.

If there was one thing more interesting than the forests it would be the tale of their origin. Legend had it that the Shodai Hokage himself had grown it with his kekkei genkai, The Mokuton. If it was true it couldn't be confirmed as no one in living memory had seen it done. But then everything the man had achieved felt like a myth.

Mortals weren't supposed to manage those feats. Only Gods could.

The forests also served another practical purpose. It served as a means of transportation.

The shinobi way of transportation that is. It would take days for non-chakra adepts to traverse them on foot, if they survived the things residing in the forest that is. It wouldn't take more than a few hours for Team 7 to leave the borders of their homeland while running through the trees.

A rather practical application of a chakra control exercise best known as tree-walking. She'd been travelling through these woods for years now, and yet her awe at its majesty had only increased

They were using a staggered formation for travelling. Kakashi was out front, immediately followed by Sasuke a little to his left, she was next and positioned to his right and the genin took their rear-guard.

"Stay sharp." Kakashi called out, breaking out Sakura from her veering thoughts, "We are here."

They had arrived at the final checkpoint manned by Konoha. A chunin came to greet them from the shack which served as the last bastion of sorts. Kakashi broke formation to speak to him and handed the man the official mission orders approved by the seal of the Hokage and made an entry into the log, denoting their time of arrival and departure from there.

It was a system made to keep abreast of their progress while they were still within Konoha borders. Beyond this point they were on their own and out of village jurisdiction. The formalities took five minutes, but for some reason Sasuke seemed to have gotten a little restless. It wasn't obvious from his manner but the boy definitely wasn't comfortable. A slight tightening of his frown, a little more stiffening of his posture, things which you'd usually not give a second thought to, even if you picked up on it.

However it caught Sakura's eye and she filed it away in her head. She would confront him later about it if she had to. Soon they were on their way again, now officially in the Fire Country. Most believed that Konoha was under the direct control of the Daimyo.

That wasn't strictly true.

The Daimyo was Konoha's employer and the biggest benefactor, it was true enough, but he had little say in the internal matters of the village. Konoha wasn't governed by Fire Country and was fairly independent on its own.

Most would question the wisdom of having a sovereign military organization within their borders outside the State's control, but it was something that had been worked for close to a hundred years now. The village provided the State with readily available shock troops among other things and the State provided sponsorship and an active clientele for the village to sustain itself. It was a mutually beneficial partnership.

Not to say there weren't complications here and there. There were bound to be. But over the years several measures had been taken to ensure neither side ever felt the need to betray the other. The partnership had survived mainly due to the fact that they had greater problems in other nations, which housed ninja villages of their own.

"Well it's going to be the road now." Kakashi addressed them again, "This route is a relatively busy one, travelling the way we do, we should reach our destination in three days."

"Why are we taking this mission again?" Sasuke scowled heavily, "This seems like a job for the law enforcement, not shinobi. The girl will probably be dead by the time we get there if she isn't already."

"You don't know that." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's callous tone.

On the way Kakashi had explained the mission to the three of them, and Sasuke hadn't been impressed.

"Don't I?" Sasuke said, "This mission document states that the girl went missing two weeks ago. There have been no demands for ransom nor any news regarding her whereabouts. Which leaves only two possibilities, either she is dead or she's been sold as a slave."

Sakura had to admit that Sasuke had a point. Not one she particularly liked and she wasn't a fan of the way he had put it, but it was a valid one. To her surprise however Naruto had a counter.

"If she hasn't been kidnapped for ransom or been the victim of a violent crime," Naruto said calmly but his eyes had attained an uncharacteristically contemplative look, not shining with their usual mirth, "Then going by your theory then she might be a victim of human trafficking. Which means she is still alive."

"If that's the case then she probably has been moved to different nation and we have already lost her." Sasuke retorted.

"Boys, boys." Kakashi called out interrupting the debate, "As riveting as your debate is, I am afraid you're getting a little ahead of yourself. We won't know what the situation is till we get there, so lets focus on that first shall we?"

"This is a waste of time." Sasuke muttered under his breath as he reverted to his natural stoic self.

That brought all conversation to a halt for the moment. When night fell, they set-up camp by the road deeper into the woods lining them. They could have checked into one of the hotels but B-ranked missions didn't cover for that.

So, camping it was.

Kakashi took the first watch as he was the senior-most member of the team. Even though the chances of being ambushed were slim to none, it was a well-established practice which had served them well. It kept them sharp and more prepared them for the time when they wouldn't have that luxury.

Sakura fidgeted uncomfortably in her sleeping bag. Try as she might sleep still evaded her. A few feet away from her she could hear Naruto's gentle snores and Sasuke's deep breaths as they slumbered peacefully. This was her first field mission in months and she couldn't suppress her anxiety. Her mind kept wandering to her last one. Things had gone bad so fast, it still left her gasping when she thought about it.

Sakura considered herself to be a good shinobi. She was talented, relatively level-headed and hard-working. If there had been a pre-requisite form to fill before being chosen as one, she was sure she would tick most if not all the boxes.

Her last mission however had brought her face to face with a reality she had been warned about but never expected to encounter. Like the frog in the well that was under the delusion that the well was all that encompassed the whole world she too had thought herself to be insulated to the dangers the world held.

She was a good shinobi, of that she had no doubt. But so were her comrades and they were now dead, not even having been afforded the courtesy of being cremated in their homeland. Her opponent outclassed her as much as a predator outclassed its prey. The prey no matter how good it was, at the end of the day was just that… a prey.

It had shaken her confidence. How was she supposed to survive against the odds that now seemed stacked against her? She wasn't afraid of dying. She didn't think so. What she was afraid of, was being confronted with the knowledge that she probably never had a chance. She was just another grunt waiting to meet her demise at the hands of a superior opponent.

Grunting in frustration she unzipped her sleeping bag and got herself out.

"Can't sleep?" Came the voice of her commander. He was facing the fire they had lighted to keep themselves warm and the wildlife away, casually leafing through his book, using the fire's glow as the source of light to aid his reading.

"No, I can't seem to." Sakura sat up, reaching for a rubber band on her hand proceeded to tie up her hair.

"Are we going to have a problem Sakura-san?" Kakashi said, without looking away from his book.

Sakura froze at the jounin's query. That question didn't bode well for her. Steeling herself she faced the him.

"I'm afraid I don't understand Hatake-san."

"Let me elaborate then." Kakashi nonchalantly turned a page. Sakura glared at the man with annoyance at his seemingly uncaring demeanor. "I couldn't help notice that you've been preoccupied ever since we've left Konoha, maybe even distracted."

Sakura clenched her jaw, but responded nevertheless, "It's nothing of concern."

"For your sake I'd hope so Sakura-san." He said eyes still glued to his book, "Now usually I wouldn't care. Your problems are your own and you're free to deal with them anyway you want. " He snapped his book shut and turned his gaze on her, "But the moment you bring them to the field you become a liability to your team and to your village."

The words were spoken casually and yet Sakura could feel herself breaking into a cold sweat of dread.

"If you were a rookie genin and I your jounin sensei you'd have gotten a lot of leeway." He continued holding his gaze steady and unblinking. His profile against the fire gave him an intimidating visage, "Unfortunately that isn't the case. I am your commander and you're a soldier under my command. Whatever issues you have, you leave them back home or wherever you can I don't care. On the field I expect absolute commitment to the job. If I can't have that you're of no use to me."

Sakura sat there frozen unable to look away from Kakashi. In the flickering light of the bonfire he cut a very intimidating figure indeed.

"So, if something is bothering you I suggest you find ways to fix it. Because if you jeopardize this mission…" The rest of the warning went unsaid, but Sakura had a fairly good idea.

It was Tsunade all over again. Delivered in the casual monotone of the jounin in many ways it was worse than the reaming the Hokage had given her.

"So I repeat." He said, "Are we going to have a problem Sakura-san?"

"No." Sakura said flatly, injecting a little defiance in her voice.

"Well what do you know, it's the end of my shift." Kakashi said cheerfully, "Can you wake Naruto up?"

The town of Sumerwhile not particularly largewas fairly prosperous. It was a popular trading ground for most silk manufacturers who brought their wares from all over the area here. So it wasn't surprising that the community wasn't the agrarian sort. No, they exported most of their food and they could afford to.

They registered their presence at the town gates which was manned by the militia. The militia was a force under the jurisdiction of the daimyo and was responsible for policing the local population and enforcing his will. They were recognizable by the blue uniforms and black batons hanging from their waist-belts.

Their process of recruiting was a fairly loose one. They were chosen from among the population by a designated samurai officer appointed by the centre. It was a system which had been established by the last daimyo. It had led to some controversy in the beginning regarding the arming and training of civilians who didn't have a military background. Mainly by the powerful samurai class.

But the growing problems with law and order required unorthodox steps like this. To get the samurai lords onboard the Daimyo gave them the responsibility to recruit the candidates and to work on its structural organization.

In a single stroke of genius he had not only placated the nobles and delegated the responsibility to the same people who had opposed it in the first place but also provided another means of employment to his people.

"Sir," One of the sentinels at the gate addressed Kakashi, "The Commander would like a word with you before you go about your business here."He eyed them somewhat distrustfully.

"Well then," Kakashi smiled at him gesturing with his arm. "Please lead the way."

The militia cantonment wasn't a part of the actual town, but located at the outskirts of it. The cantonment itself was a camping-ground of sorts mainly consisting of tents as accommodation for the troops along with a few brick structures to serve as offices. The way they were made it was obvious the builder had focused more on functionality than aesthetics. It was a sentiment Kakashi approved of.

His team trailed behind him, drinking in their surroundings. It was rather interesting to observe their actions in an unfamiliar environment. Sakura's eyes kept darting all over the place, trying to gather in as much as she could, just like she had been trained. Sasuke was doing the same, except he was being a lot more subtle about it, and trusting his other senses a lot more, a product of his ANBU days. It was Naruto's reaction which was the most interesting though. He had placed his hands behind his head and seemed completely relaxed, hints of a grin playing on his lips. He seemed more like a tourist out for a day of sightseeing than a shinobi on an official mission.

He even tried to engage their guide in a conversation, but after realizing that the guard wasn't interested in one he reverted back to just taking in his surroundings. His actions led Kakashi to believe that either the guy was an idiot or potentially the greatest infiltrator he had ever seen. But then again the guy had been trained by Jiraiya, who had made his name as a lecher and an author of adult literature.

The sannin's outside persona had been so dominant that it was the only thing people noticed about him and not the legendary shinobi he was underneath. Maybe Naruto learnt his lessons well. Already he could see that the members of militia surrounding them had written him off and were more focused on him and Sasuke.

It was the orange-clad whisker-faced loud blonde who was the personification of a ninja here in every sense of the word.

Who'd have guessed?

They were led to one of the few permanent structures in the cantonment. It was a sixteen by twelve feet building painted red and green. A graveled pathway led to the steps leading to the front door. An unoccupied stone bench sat outside.

Kakashi instructed his subordinates to wait while he followed the man who led him through the door and bowed in salutation to his superior. He was dismissed with the wave of a hand and the man retreated the way he came.

"Welcome to Sumer Hatake-san." The man said, getting up to offer Kakashi his arm, who took it and gave it a firm shake, "I am Hibiki Kinomoto the Officer-in-charge here. How may we be of service?"

Translation I know who you are, but what the hell are you doing here?

"Actually I am here to offer mine." Kakashi said genially handing the man his mission orders.

As the man perused the document, it gave Kakashi the chance to study the man. He was in his mid-thirties, with salt and pepper hair parted to the right. He wasn't particularly tall or imposing by any means, but he was obviously well-built and probably no stranger to combat. The Daisho hanging from his waist spoke of his samurai pedigree.

"Why is someone like the 'Kakashi of the Sharingan' deployed to investigate a case of a missing girl?" The man remarked, "Its something which falls under our jurisdiction the last time I checked and I fail to see what you can achieve that we haven't."

Kakashi had been afraid of this. Ninjas weren't popular with the Daimyo's forces at the best of times. Their skills and effectiveness did a good job of making them feel emasculated. The fact they weren't limited by the rules the samurai swore to uphold didn't help matters. To the shinobi the only rule that really mattered was never to be caught breaking one. In short everything the shinobi stood for was almost taken as a personal affront by the samurai class, who lived and died by the rules of bushido. That was just one of the issues though.

Kakashi however wasn't here to play up old feuds. He was here to do a job and he would do whatever it needed to get it done.

"We're here at the request of the family as I'm sure you gleaned from that document." He said, "I'm not here in any way to trample on your authority or jurisdiction Hibiki-san. Our only concern is to get the girl back or at the very least figure out what fate befell her."

Kakashi returned the man's hawk-like gaze benignly.

"How long will we be hosting you?" The man asked not removing his gaze from Kakashi's face.

"Let's give it a week." Kakashi answered, "We hope to reach a conclusion by then."

"Fine." The man nodded thoughtfully, "A week it is. I will send a man to guide you around the city."

"That will be acceptable." He said graciously, not bothered by the man's blatant attempt to saddle them with a watchman. "But as long as I'm here you wouldn't mind sharing the results of your investigations would you?"

The man responded by pressing a bell on his table. Its sharp ring brought a uniformed secretary running into the room who promptly bowed and stood at attention.

"Get me that file of the missing girl Mei Arisawa." He said addressing his subordinate. The man retreated back without saying a word.

"What're your personal thoughts regarding the case?" Kakashi asked the man once they were alone again.

The man sighed heavily, dropping his veneer of professionalism, "Officially we're still continuing the investigation, but I'll admit we've hit a dead-end. At this point I personally believe that the girl is dead."

"Any particular reason for that?"

"I don't have proof but this is what I think happened." The Commander said, "The girl was kidnapped for ransom, but something went wrong and the kidnappers accidentally killed her before they could even make their demands. So they lost their bargaining chip before they could ever put it to play."

"That's not inconceivable, I suppose." Kakashi admitted. "If that's the case what happened to her body?"

"That is the million ryo question isn't it?"

The conversation halted as the secretary arrived bearing the red square folder and handed it to his superior.

"I'm afraid you can't take an official document out of the cantonment premises." The man said somewhat apologetically as he handed Kakashi the file, "Nor can I allow you to make copies."

"That's okay." Kakashi assured the man as he accepted the file, he then proceeded to remove his headband concealing his eye, "I have it covered."

The man showed remarkable restraint as Kakashi perused through the file using his sharingan and effectively memorizing every detail of their investigation. Most people thought that the doujutsu was an effective tool for stealing jutsus, but Kakashi had found that it had a lot of other practical applications as well. A few seconds later he was done memorizing the contents of the file.

"Thank you." Kakashi smiled at the commander.

"Don't mention it."

"It is definitely a busy place." Kakashi remarked as they traversed the streets of the town.

"All in preparation for the Annual Merchant Festival sir." Their guide a newly minted recruit who went by the name of Akio explained, "It begins in ten days from now. Bad enough the Arisawa family to have lost their daughter but to do it so close to the festival?"

"Did you know the girl?" Kakashi asked the man.

"Not personally, no." The man shook his head, "But she was extremely popular in the community from what I have gathered and her disappearance seems to have affected them all."

"So is this the house?" Kakashi asked their guide.

"Yes it is." The man replied, "Arisawa-san may not be home. He is probably working."

"I see. Naruto, Sasuke." Kakashi said abruptly, "Go and mingle with the locals see what you can find out. Start with the place where she was last seen. Sakura you and I will go and speak to the family."

"Sweet!" Naruto smirked while the others just nodded.

"Wait!" Their guide exclaimed.

"Yes?" Kakashi turned his attention to the man who was now glaring at them suspiciously.

"Why don't all of you go and see the family first?" He suggested, "I'm sure the locals can wait."

"That's a good suggestion." Kakashi nodded, making a show of as if he was seriously considering it, "But we are at something of deadline you see and using my way we can cover more ground."

He had shared the contents of the file with the team and they should know how to proceed from here without him having to hold their hand.

At the moment however he was enjoying watching the man's face turn interesting colors. He was obviously struggling to come up with a relevant excuse to stop them from splitting up and failing miserably. The man finally seemed to come to a decision.

"I guess I'll help the boys and make sure they don't get lost." He said.

"Very well." Kakashi sighed as if he was disappointed by the man's decision. 'How naïve' he thought to himself.

Kakashi and Sakura made their way to the house which belonged to their client. It was a white single-story apartment, with a little garden divided into rows of various flowers surrounding a green lawn in concentric rings. It was a garden Inoichi would have been proud of. A middle-aged woman was working on one of the rows diligently.

"Arisawa-san?" Kakashi approached the woman who looked up from her work to look at him wearing a rather puzzled expression on her face. "I am Kakashi Hatake, Jounin affiliated with Konohagakure and this is Sakura Haruno. I believe you have been expecting us."

"Oh yes." The woman hastily got up, her face flushed from working in the sun, "I'm sorry my husband is out working and you caught me at a bad time."

"That's quite alright Arisawa-san." Kakashi assured her.

"Please come in." The woman led them into the house.

Kakashi and Sakura were offered seats in the living room while she disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later with a tray laden with snacks and tea.

"I can't express how grateful I am that you came." She said once she had offered the refreshments to them, "She has been missing for so long now that we were beginning to give up hope. My husband has been completely shattered ever since and only today did he find the resolve to go back to work." The woman sniffled, her eyes tearing up as she talked about her daughter.

"That's a lovely garden you have out there." Sakura joined the conversation. Kakashi had to admire the way she was distracting the distraught woman.

"Why thank you dear." The woman smiled through her unshed tears, "It is the only thing which is holding me together."

"What is your daughter like?" Kakashi tried to get back on track, "How did she interact with others, her friends, her elders?"

"She was loved by everyone around here." She said, "It was hard not to. So beautiful and full of life. We'd just made arrangements for her engagement too."

This latest bit of information gave Kakashi a pause.

"How did she take it?" Kakashi asked, "I mean when you told her that you were arranging her marriage." He added on seeing the look of confusion on her face.

"She was…. happy about it I suppose." Came the somewhat uncertain answer.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell us Arisawa-san." Kakashi was never one to not capitalize on a slip when he saw one.

"Every girl gets jitters when they are about to be married shinobi-san." She said, "I remember the day my parents broke the news of my betrothal to me, I couldn't sleep for days. She was a little anxious, yes. But that wasn't anything out of the ordinary."

"I see." He muttered thoughtfully, "Who was she getting married to?"

"Saito Hasawada." She said, "He is the son of a close family friend a couple of years older than Mei-chan. His father and my husband have been business partners for twenty years."

"What can you tell me about the day she disappeared?"

"I really can't say much." She said mournfully, "I sent her out that day to run some errands in the morning and that was the last I saw of her."

"When did you realize she had gone missing?"

"I sent my husband to go look for her when it was evening."

"Was it usual for her to remain out for extended periods of time?"

"She was a rather popular one, my daughter and we've always allowed her a little more independence." She sighed, "So no, it wasn't unusual. She would be dragged by her friends to join them for some game or another. You know how it is with youngsters. I wonder if that hadn't been her undoing?"

They sat silently for a while as Kakashi processed everything he had been told. The woman without anything to keep her mind occupied was now staring miserably at the floor probably already lost in her sorrow and regret.

"I would like to see her bedroom if that's not a problem." He said, startling the woman out of her reverie.

"Yes of course." She recovered rather admirably as she hastily got up, "This way please."

The bedroom was on placed on the southern wing of the house. The walls were painted yellow. It had three windows which ensured the room was airy filled with the natural light. A single bed lay in one corner of the room attached to the wall. A few picture frames graced themselves on the mantelpiece. Some of them were of her with girls her age, a few were of hers alone and a couple with her parents.

In short it was the room of a typical adolescent girl.

Except for the various canvas paintings littered around the room. Most of them were unfinished from the looks of it. Kakashi wasn't an expert on art by any means. But he had been to the capital in an official capacity and the paintings he was seeing here could easily rival the ones hanging in the royal house.

"She loved….loves to paint. It is one of the disciplines she excels at in her school." The mother's voice broke as she spoke, "She's such a talented girl."

"Indeed." Kakashi muttered, out of the corner of his eyes he could see Sakura studying some of the unfinished ones with interest. Kakashi approached her and looked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

"Anything interesting?" He said startling her. The girl really needed to work on her awareness. He was partly responsible he supposed. Ever since their last conversation she had been even more wary and uncomfortable around him than before.

"No." She said almost instantly, "I mean I don't think so."

"Speak your mind chunin." He prodded invoking her rank to remind her of the pecking order, "What is it?"

Sakura bit her lip uncertainly as if not sure if she wanted to speak her mind for the fear of appearing stupid. "The brush marks on this painting." She said pointing to the ones she was talking about, "The ones here. Appear rather agitated don't they? Almost angry."

Kakashi could see what she meant. Her other paintings were mainly landscapes which had a grace and dignity about them, but the one Sakura was examining was almost abstract in its appearance. That wasn't to say it wasn't beautiful. It was almost as if the artist was trying to paint her feelings on the canvas. It was mesmerizing in a very strange way.

"Before her disappearance was there any significant change in behavior of your daughter, something….anything unusual about her that might have caught your eye?" Kakashi addressed the woman not taking.

"Like I said, we had told her about her betrothal and she was a little anxious about it." She said, "But other than that nothing."

"Did she know her fiancé?"

"Not really, no." Came the reply, "The boy was raised in the capital where he completed his studies. He has been in Sumer for barely a few months. Believe me Kakashi-san happiness of our daughter has always been our main concern and we wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that."

Kakashi nodded to convey his agreement outwardly, but his mind was already running in the opposite direction. He knew from personal experience that parents had little idea about what their kids were up to and if the Arisawas were anything like his own they probably were just as clueless.

"When can we expect your husband to be home?"

"Why don't you drop by sometime around the evening?" She said, "I'm sure he'd like to speak to you as well."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

To say Sasuke was annoyed would have been an understatement. He had had the misfortune to be saddled with probably the most annoying guy he had ever met and that really was saying something. He would take his fangirls over him for company because then at least he would expect that behavior from them.

Not to say Naruto was a fangirl of course. But in his own way he was even more infuriating than they had ever been. Probably that was the reason it hadn't taken Kakashi long to leave the idiotic blonde with him. As if he needed another reason to hate the man.

The only saving grace if it could be called that was he had separated himself from Sasuke barely five minutes later as he joined a bunch of some of the dirtiest street rats he had ever seen in their game of ball. He'd tried to make him join, but he just glared at him to make him back-off. The blonde had just shrugged and with a shout to attract the children's attention had joined in.

Despite himself he couldn't help but be amazed at how easily he had been accepted by them. He might as well have been one of them. It was even more amazing considering that his playmates were several years younger than him. On second thought with his level of maturity it wasn't surprising that he fit in with kids half his age.

But he had a job to do and he worked better alone anyway. Tracking missing people was something of a specialty of his. Something he took pride in. Granted the person in question wasn't one of his usual pursuits. The people he pursued were trained killers who knew how to keep themselves hidden. Finding a civilian shouldn't be that hard.

Provided she was alive of course, something he seriously doubted.

He didn't care either way. He used to be ANBU for crying out loud. A goddamn elite and now he was reduced to running B-ranked missions with a washed-out genin and an ex-fangirl of his who by the looks of it was one bad mission away from a complete breakdown.

Credit where it was due, she did a decent job of hiding it, but he could pick up the signs. He became familiar with them during his time as an ANBU which had an attrition rate of eighty percent. Most candidates dropped out in the first six months. Sasuke had endured and proved himself to be the best of his generation.

His record spoke for itself.

The silver lining in this dark and gloomy cloud was that sooner or later one or both of them were bound to get themselves killed or screw up badly enough to warrant the team's disbanding at which point he could go back to doing what he was before.

But till that day came he still had a job to do.

Now where was a teenaged civilian girl most likely to spend her time? He was told by Kakashi to start where she was seen last, which happened to be the local grocery store. But he doubted he would make any more progress than the local law enforcement.

No, he will pursue a different avenue.

For the first time since he had entered this town he paid attention to his guide. He wasn't fooled anymore than Kakashi had been. He was obviously keeping an eye on them, going by the age-old adage, something which escaped Sasuke at the moment, the bottom line of which was never trusting a shinobi.

The man was obviously not pleased by his assigned task. To be fair they hadn't made his job easier by any means. He was supposed to keep an eye on all of them and now he was left with only him. He could have chosen to stick with the orange-clad idiot of course but he had obviously judged him (quite rightly so in his opinion) to be the one who needed to be kept under watch.

Well it was time the guide made himself useful.

"The missing girl." Sasuke said, "You wouldn't know how she spent her time would you?"

"No, I wouldn't." The man frowned, "But girls from affluent families like hers went to the finishing school, so I'm guessing so did she."

Sasuke remembered Kakashi briefing them about the girl and the fact that she did in fact attend the local finishing school. It was a start and if he had to start shooting arrows in the dark, this was as good a place as any.

Sasuke was familiar with the concept of finishing school. Konoha had one too. It was where civilian girls from wealthy families were taught the skills which would serve them for the rest of their lives including but not limited to cuisine, flower arrangement, tea ceremony etc. In short all the skills required to manage the homely affairs of the affluent men they'd end up marrying.

The school wasn't far from the market. It was a solid marble structure supported by big pillars supporting the ceiling twenty feet off the ground. In addition it had a sprawling lawn and a pool at its centre. The gates of the school were guarded by two uniformed sentinels, who allowed him in after the guide explained his presence.

He was granted an audience with the headmistress almost immediately once he revealed his purpose to the receptionist. The guide was told to wait outside while he was led to the office of the Headmistress. The office was a room with a high ceiling. A scroll with the kanji of autumn was hanging from one of the walls. There was no furniture to speak of in the room. Only tatami mats on the floor surrounding a small table. A woman sat on one end of the table brewing a pot of tea who Sasuke deduced to be the person he was here to see.

The headmistress was a woman probably in her sixties, dressed in a royal blue kimono. Her hair had been tied in a severe bun. Her stern face might have been attractive at one time, but age had left its inevitable mark on it.

Sasuke was no expert, but the woman's graceful movements and confidence was enough to tell him that he was in the presence of a master of the tea ceremony.

Removing his sandals at the door, he got to his knees and slid the door close behind him. Washing his hands and rinsing his mouth as the ceremony demanded he finally took his position in front of her sitting in seiza.

The woman's face softened and her gaze turned into one of approval at his observance of etiquette.

"I see you're familiar with the ways of the tea ceremony." She said approvingly.

"My mother was a practitioner of the Chabako Temae." He said bowing in appreciation of the compliment. "She had hosted the Daimyo himself."

His use of the past tense in reference to his mother wasn't missed by the old matron, but she refrained from pursuing it, much to Sasuke's relief.

"So." She poured him a cup of the hot beverage, "How can I help you shinobi-san?"

"I'm here regarding one of your students." He accepted the offered cup with both hands, "The missing one in fact, Mei Arisawa."

"Yes of course." The woman said, "As a teacher we aren't supposed to have favorites, but I have no hesitation in saying that Mei Arisawa was the brightest girl to have walked through those gates. It was an honor and privilege to have taught her."

Sasuke had a feeling that the matron was usually a lot more miserly in her praise.

"So you have never had any problems with her?" Sasuke asked.

"None whatsoever." Came the emphatic reply, "You must understand shinobi-san, a lot of these girls we teach are talented. But few have the mental fortitude and discipline to go the whole way. Mei wasn't only talented but focused and disciplined as well."

A prodigy then. That opened a whole other box of troubles unfortunately.

"Did this cause any jealousy among her peers?"

"I'm afraid I really can't answer that." The woman smiled, "I'm sure a few were. But she was such a humble girl so it couldn't have been easy to hate her. But from what I had observed of her interactions with her peers, she seemed to get along well enough with most of them."

Great she wasn't just a prodigy she was also a saint. Just what he needed.

Thanking the matron he decided to interview the instructors. Unfortunately they didn't have anything new to add. All of them were unanimous in their praise for the missing girl and could see no reason for why such a fate should befall her. In their own way they had assumed the worst.

So now Sasuke was now sitting in an outdoor eatery waiting for Kakashi and hoping he would have something concrete. Not that he cared about the girl's fate, but the sooner this was resolved the sooner he could get out of here.

Fortunately he didn't have to wait long.

Unfortunately he was joined by the one person he wanted to see the least. Uzumaki Naruto occupied the seat facing him, grinning goofily as if he was having the time of his life. Oh how he wished he could wipe that stupid smile off his face.

"I'm guessing by that frown, you didn't have much luck with your inquiries." He reached for his plate of dango and was promptly swatted away by him.

"Well at least I've been making inquiries." He remarked, "Which is more than I can say about you."

"Hey don't go around dissing my work process." Naruto scowled rubbing his arm where Sasuke had struck him, "I'll have you know that I maybe onto something here."

"Okay I'll bite, what did you find out?" Sasuke said skeptically, trying to weed out information from him without revealing any of what he'd learnt so far.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He smirked at him knowingly. It seemed he wasn't quite as stupid as he looked.

"Other than indulging your juvenile interests, I don't see what else you could've achieved." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

Naruto stared at him and for once there wasn't a smile on his face. But it didn't seem as if he was affected by his insult. It was more akin to him sizing him up, as if trying to make a decision about him. Sasuke met his gaze impassively but he couldn't help but feel a little unnerved by it.

Finally Naruto's face broke into its usual grin.

"Fine you win." He raised his arms in mock resignation, "I'll show you mine then you can show me yours. Deal?"

Innuendo aside Sasuke didn't have problems with this arrangement. If he wasn't satisfied he could always hold back on what he'd learnt.

"Fine."

Naruto leaned towards him, his eyes shining with excitement and theatrically dropping his voice to levels barely above a whisper as if he was sharing a deep secret.

"The gate is the only way in and out of the city."

Sasuke's finger twitched towards his kunai. A nicked jugular. He will bleed out in minutes and he probably won't even feel it. But that was interfering with his desire of making him suffer.

His murderous intentions must have been evident on his face because Naruto's face had visibly paled.

"Hey guys."Naruto was saved from death by decapitation, due to the timely arrival of their commander and their pink-haired teammate, "Glad to see you've found a productive way to spend your time."

"Dobe here figured out that the only way to enter and leave the city is by the front gate." Sasuke said, getting a whine of indignation from Naruto.

"Hmmm…. I see." Kakashi dragged a chair and took a seat beside Sasuke, leaving Sakura to share space with Naruto. "You're sure about this?"

"My sources are very reliable."

"As reliable as a bunch of eight year olds can get." Sasuke said drily.

"For your information." Naruto said in a self-important tone, "They were ten and above."

"Of course. That makes it better."

"Boys, boys." Kakashi admonished them, "Keep it in your pants, at least until you can get some privacy."

Sakura snorted as she tried to contain her laughter, gaining the attention of the three men in the process.

"Sorry." She apologized, uncomfortable at being the center of attention. "But I'm with Sasuke here, how reliable can a bunch of kids be? No offence."

"Some taken." Naruto waved off her apologies, "You don't know them like I do."

"You've known them for a couple of hours." Sakura deadpanned.

"If Naruto says he trusts his source." Kakashi interrupted, "I'll take his word for it." Sasuke looked like he wanted to protest but Kakashi quelled him with a pointed look, "Moving on, what have you got for me Sasuke?"

Sasuke took a calming breath and then recapitulated his encounter with the matron and the other instructors, who gave him a patient hearing without any interruptions.

"That's all you've got?" Naruto questioned once he was done, "That she was a docile prodigy who apparently walked on clouds."

"I guess it isn't better than the gem you provided.."

"Boys, boys what did we talk about PDA just now."

Sasuke wasn't sure why this was happening. He was usually so good at ignoring annoying people and had a better control of his emotions, but the blonde genin had pushed his buttons the way only Kakashi was capable of. To make matters worse, Kakashi had to come between them to keep things from escalating.

"What does all this mean?" Sakura mused aloud.

"Assuming that the law enforcers did their job competently." Kakashi said, "Its probably safe to assume that the girl is no longer in the town."

"That's a big assumption to make." Sasuke muttered.

"So where does that leave us?" Sakura said ignoring Sasuke's quip.

"Everything that comes inside the town is given a thorough inspection by the guards." Naruto said, "But nothing which leaves the town is given the same attention… just putting it out there."

"And you got this from your….. reliable sources of course?" Sasuke mocked.

"Actually, I talked to some of the guards who were taking a break from their shift."

"And they just told you this." Sakura looked at Naruto skeptically.

"You'll be surprised with what people are willing to tell you if you ask the right questions, just the right way." Naruto shrugged, "Moreover it isn't as if its national security or anything, I'm sure by the end of the day we'd have seen it for ourselves."

Sasuke had to admit that was rather eloquently put. There was obviously more to the genin than appearances otherwise suggested.

"Speaking of guards," Sakura said rather thoughtfully, "Where's Akio?"

Sakura and Kakashi turned their gazes to Naruto, who had now turned his to Sasuke. He could see the realization dawning in their eyes as within a few short seconds he was on the receiving end two and a half sets of judgmental stares.

"Oops." He said dryly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi didn't enjoy being put under a spotlight. Especially not when said spotlight was on him for all the wrong reason and even more so, when it was because of an oversight on the part of one of his subordinates. He hadn't been put in a position like this since his early days as an ANBU Captain when one of his orders had been misinterpreted and had led his squad to surround a pond expecting to ambush a Kiri missing-nin only for it to turn out to be the home to a species of geese which had been thought to be extinct long ago.

Zoologists had renamed the species after him in recognition of the discovery.

He wished the Hokage had been as impressed.

He really missed those days.

Hibiki Kinomoto considered himself to be a relatively reasonable man. But he really should've seen this coming. Shinobi weren't to be trusted, but he'd done his best to accommodate them. His only hope had been that they would allow themselves to be monitored. It was his way of offering truce. He wouldn't make things difficult for them as long as he could keep an eye on them.

But it hadn't taken them long to get rid of their 'escort'. He was in the middle of giving Akio a dressing down for losing them when the reason for his current headache made his presence known and immediately he had a new target to direct his ire at.

Except this wasn't one of his subordinates. This was a jounin. An elite shinobi. This man was a step maybe two away from the rank of a kage, the equivalent of a general, in the ninja hierarchy. He couldn't tear him a new one, as much as he wanted to.

He dismissed the cowering boy and turned his glare towards the man.

"You're putting me in a very hard position Hatake-san." He said breaking the silence.

"Is that so?" Came the rather nonchalant reply.

The man was obviously trying to get a rise out of him, but over the years he had gained a rather thick skin and could allow most things to roll off his back.

"I'm a straightforward man Hatake-san." He said, "I'd rather not play games if it can be helped."

"Well I'll give you that." Kakashi admitted, "You weren't exactly being subtle setting that tail on us. But you really have to stop being suspicious of us Commander. We're on the same side here."

"You want me to stop being suspicious of you," He retorted, "Then you've got to stop acting suspicious."

They seemed to reach an impasse as Hibiki was in no mood to concede his stand on the issue and he didn't think the jounin was either.

"Look Commander." The jounin sighed , "I understand your position, I really do but we're here to do a job and I'd prefer to do it without constantly having to look over my shoulder."

"No, that's the thing you don't." Hibiki said vehemently, "You ninjas walk in wherever you feel like doing whatever you want, and we're the ones left to clean up the mess."

"Trust me Hibiki-san." Kakashi replied coolly, "We're here on orders and our only concern is the safe retrieval of the girl and we haven't made a mess yet."

Hibiki took a deep calming breath, he came close to losing his temper which wouldn't do him any good.

"The only reason I've cooperated as much as I have is for the sake of that girl and her poor parents." He muttered heavily, "I'm hoping you'll succeed where my men have failed, but your actions aren't convincing me of your sincerity."

"You've to understand Hibiki-san." Kakashi said, "Our way of working is different than yours, we don't confine ourselves to the norms and rules that bind you."

"And you wonder why I don't trust you." He retorted.

"Regardless." Kakashi said, "Right now maybe we're the last hope you've of finding the girl. If you bear with us we will be out of your hair before you know it."

Hibiki considered what this. As much as it galled him to admit it, the shinobi was probably right. The sooner they were done with this, the sooner they would cease to be his problem.

"Fine." Hibiki leant forward on his table, "But I need something from you too. I can't just let you have a free run in my town."

"What do you need?" The jounin sighed wearily.

"I need you to keep me updated on your investigation."

Kakashi paused, seemingly considering the offer, "Okay." He finally said, "But I need your word, that you will keep whatever I reveal to you confidential."

"How do I know you will keep your word?"

"How about this then?" Kakashi said, "As an act of faith I'll tell you something we have inferred from our limited time here."

"I'm listening."

Kakashi's next words left Hibiki's jaw hanging in surprise.

"You can't be serious." He said on finally finding his voice.

Character Profile

Kakashi Hatake

Affiliation: Konoha

Registration ID: 0216

Rank: Jounin

Team : Team 7

Bio: The son of Sakumo Hatake and student of the Yondaime, Kakashi has a pedigree as good as any in Konoha. Hailed as a genius and prodigy his rise through the ranks can only be described as meteoric. Becoming a Jounin before his teens during the Third Shinobi War where he also gained notoriety as the Copy-cat ninja famous for stealing over a thousand jutsus during the war with his sharingan. It was soon followed by a very successful stint in the ANBU. Casual and laid-back when off-duty he is a perfectionist when it comes to his missions. Haunted and plagued by the death of his teammates and sensei, he is known to go above and beyond to protect those under his charge.


End file.
